The Enemy
by Meushell
Summary: Stargate Command and the Tok'ra find an unexpected enemy when Sam is captured. Sam/Martouf/Lantash
1. Friendship

Title: The Enemy  
Author: Meushell  
Disclaimer: Stargate owns what they own, (even if they are trigger happy with the Tok'ra) and I own what I own.  
Summary: Stargate Command and the Tok'ra find an unexpected enemy when Sam is captured.  
Rating: PG-13  
Parings: Sam/Martouf/Lantash, Malek/Aldwin, Aldwin/Other (mentioned), Selmak/Other (mentioned) Anise/Other  
Sequel to: The Question, which basically means Sam is married to Martouf and Lantash.  
Beta Reader: Rochelle

Part 1, Friendship

--3 years ago--

"What do you think?" Selmak asked as she watched a Tok'ra named Relek look over the results from a scan.

"The soil is good." Relek answered. "Tunneling here won't be a problem."

"It's also in good territory," Aldwin added. "I see no reason as to why we cannot use this as a future base."

_I knew it would be good_, Jacob thought.

_You merely had a hunch that happened to be correct. _Selmak grinned. "Jacob likes the surface."

"Of course he does," Relek replied. "It has a nice surface, but we don't pick out bases due to nice surfaces."

_Did he just insult me?_ Jacob asked.

_I will handle it. _"And what does Tur think of the surface?" Selmak asked, referring to Relek's host.

Relek blushed slightly. "He likes it."

"It _is_ a beautiful surface, but Jacob likes this planet for more than that. Please, don't be so quick to judge his reasoning."

Aldwin glanced between them, sensing another argument coming. "Should I leave?"

"There is no need," Selmak replied. She turned away.

It was silent for a moment, but Relek spoke. "I apologize. I should..." He glanced down. "I still miss Saroosh...and us...and you being female."

Selmak still hurt whenever her last host was mentioned, and on the same time, she felt bad about it due to Jacob.

_Don't worry_, Jacob thought. _I miss her, and I hardly knew her. _Though he knew those feelings came from Selmak. _Just talk to him._

_I don't have to talk to him about this._

_Hey, you made me talk to Mark, so I'm making you talk to him._

Selmak sighed and turned back to Relek. "I miss us too." Relationships had a chance of lasting beyond a host's death, but unless the surviving host happened to be bisexual, the relationship was doomed if the new host was of a different sex than the deceased one. "I hope we can finally take the steps towards friendship."

"I would like that." Relek bowed his head and gave Tur control. "So would I." They knew they had stubbornly avoided Selmak for too long.

Aldwin grinned, though he felt he was invading a personal conversation. He went to the machine Relek had been looking at to see how long the scan would take. It began beeping soon after, and Aldwin checked the readings.

Selmak looked to Aldwin. "Anything new?"

"Everything is consistent."

"We should go then," Selmak said, regretting that she had to leave. "I'll report to Per'sus and tell him the planet looks good."

"I want to do one last check," Tur said as he knelt down.

"It's going to be getting dark soon."

"We still have plenty of daylight."

Selmak glanced to the sky. "Very well, but return quickly." She began grabbing some supplies.

"I'll help you," Aldwin offered. He picked up a few things and followed Selmak to the stargate. He glanced upward when he caught up with the other Tok'ra. "This is a good planet."

"It is. The Goa'uld haven't been in this region in years. It's useless to them. This planet doesn't attract many explorers. It's perfect for us."

Aldwin made a nod. "Gete agrees." Then he nearly tripped. He turned briefly to try to see what he tripped on. "Do you think the council will agree?" _What did we trip on?_

_I think you tripped over my feet_, Gete thought.

_I do not trip over feet. _Aldwin frowned, then noticed Selmak hadn't stopped. He ran to catch up.

"I think they will agree," Selmak answered. She was quiet for the rest of the walk, and so were the others. It wasn't a far walk, but the terrain got a little tricky as they neared the stargate. Selmak looked to Aldwin. "Make sure they don't take too long." She glanced back to where they left Tur. "And get back to them quickly."

"I'll only allow him to do one more scan." Aldwin handed her the equipment.

"Good."

"At least I'll try." He began playing with his hands.

Selmak gave Aldwin a "you better do more than that" look.

"They might argue. You know how stubborn they are."

Selmak gestured to the terrain. "This won't be easy to walk over in the dark."

"I know."

"Then don't let him win the argument." Selmak dialed to the Tok'ra Base. "Are you nervous?"

"What?"

Selmak looked down at Aldwin's hands.

Aldwin stopped rubbing them. "No, I..." He shook his head. "I'll see you soon."

"Very soon." Selmak nodded and left.

Aldwin watched for a moment before heading back towards the testing area. It didn't take long to arrive, and he found himself staring ahead.

_Aldwin?_

Aldwin blinked and looked around. _Yes?_

_We underestimated the time._

_What?_

_It's going to be dark very soon._

Aldwin glanced to the sky._ We need to hurry. _He looked around. "Tur?" He noticed a form on the ground. "Tur?" He hurried over to the form, and he quickly identified Tur.

_What happened to him?_ Gete thought in worry.

Aldwin searched for a pulse, but he found nothing. He pulled out his zatnikatel and looked around.

_Check Relek_, Gete thought.

Aldwin placed his hand on the back of Tur's neck, but he felt no movement.

_I don't like this planet anymore_, Gete thought, feeling worried and upset.

_Neither do I. _Aldwin couldn't find any sign that someone else had been there. He tucked away his zatnikatel and picked up his fellow Tok'ra. _The least we can do is take them home._

To be continued...


	2. Naquadah Mines

(Roeskva, thank you for the review.)

Part 2, Naquadah Mines

--Now--

"It's the Tok'ra."

Sam smiled. "Open the iris." She hadn't been expecting a visit, but one from Martouf and Lantash was due soon. She quickly headed down to the gateroom, imagining them stepping on to the ramp. There was a small ripple in the event horizon, but the wrong Tok'ra came through. "Vorran?"

Vorran stopped at the end of the ramp and gave a small bow. "Lieutenant Colonel Carter. I have been sent to ask if General O'Neill is interested in sending a team to work with the Tok'ra."

Jack walked into the room, hearing part of the statement. "What kind of mission?"

"Mining," Vorran replied as he looked him. "It's not the most interesting mission, but I believe it would be good for both of us."

Jack pointed in the direction of the briefing room. "Let's talk."

Sam followed, and though it might be rude, she had to ask. "Where's Martouf? How is my dad?"

Vorran looked to her. "They are each on another mission right now. I am sure they would have come if they could. If we work on this mission, they will probably join us." He sat down when they arrived in the briefing room. "I would like the rest of SG-1 to hear this."

Jack nodded before asking a captain to get Daniel and Teal'c. "Daniel and Teal'c won't take long to get here."

"I understand," Vorran replied.

Sam sat down. As Jack predicted, Daniel and Teal'c came within a few minutes. They sat down before Jack looked to Vorran. "You were saying..."

Vorran looked over everyone. "There is a mine on the planet, Rylik. We thought we could work together to dig up the mineral." He looked to Sam. "As I stated, your father and husbands would be joining us there...when they are done with their current missions."

"How long have you known about the mine?" Daniel asked.

"I am not sure. I believe it was discovered a few hundred years ago."

"And you want to start mining it now?" Jack asked. His tone clearly showed his surprise.

"We usually trade for minerals, but lately, we haven't been getting enough through trade. Mining is usually a last resort." He glanced to SG-1 and Jack.

"What are we mining?" Sam asked, knowing the Tok'ra use more than one mineral.

"Naquadah."

Sam frowned. "Does Martouf know about this mission?"

"I don't know."

"Sam?" Jack questioned, knowing Sam was getting at something.

"Sir, it's just that Martouf doesn't involve himself in missions that involve naquadah mines."

"Well, if the Tok'ra ordered it-"

Sam shook her head. "It's the one thing he'll refuse." Trading missions, guarding missions, suicide missions... If the high council ordered it, Martouf wouldn't question it...except when the mission involved a naquadah mine.

"He won't be mining," Vorran said. "He'll be a guard, and while he has refused in the past, I assume he'll make an exception to be able to spend time with you." Vorran looked over everyone. "I've been ordered to go with you if you decide to examine the area. Basically, I'm to be SG-1's...tour guide."

"How much of the share are we getting?" Jack asked.

"Fifty percent of what is mined."

Jack nodded to himself. That sounded fair, which made him wonder what the catch was. However, he couldn't refuse because he thought there was a catch. He looked to the others. "Sam?"

"Well, we could always use more naquadah."

"It sounds good to me," Daniel asked.

Jack looked to Teal'c, who made a nod of approval. "All right, grear up." Jack watched SG-1 leave to get ready. "I'll be heading out with you," he informed as they left the door. He looked to Vorran. "Is there anything else we should know about?"

"There is not. The Goa'uld do not know of this mine, so they should not be bothering us."

Jack nodded again. "So...the coordinates?"

--

As soon as they arrived on the planet, Vorran pointed to some distance mountains. "The mines are there."

"Looks to be about a day away," Sam observed.

"Let's get started then," Jack said.

The walk was long and mostly quiet. When night came, it was time to put up tents. Sam settled down into her tent. She closed her eyes, glad to be able to do so, though she felt bad that she wouldn't be guarding. Jack, Vorran, and Teal'c had already volunteered for the watches. She and Daniel would be able to sleep through the night.

The next morning, Vorran continued leading them to the mountains. When they arrived, he gestured to one of the caves. "You may investigate."

Sam looked into the caves. The feel of naquada was faint.

"Colonel Carter," Vorran called. He was putting a device on the ground. "Could you help me?"

Sam headed over with Jack following. "Yeah, sure, what do you need?"

Vorran gestured to the device as he stood. "This is what we use to scan the ground." He watched her kneel. He looked to Jack watching him. "I thought you might want to see how to use it."

"Daniel might be interested," Jack put in.

"Only one with naquada in their system can-" He moved his hand to his arm. "-trigger the-" Rings came down around him and Sam.

"Hey!" Jack alarmed as he pulled out his gun. "Teal'c!" He tried shooting at Vorran, but the bullets bounced off the rings, and they were gone.

Teal'c came out, though there wasn't anything he could do by that time. He heard Daniel come out soon after. "What happened?" Daniel asked.

"Sam just got kidnapped," Jack said as he went to where the rings were. He tried to find some sort of trigger.

"By a Tok'ra?"

"I do not believe he was Tok'ra," Teal'c stated.

Daniel frowned in worry. "We've seen him with the Tok'ra several times, and he came to us with the Tok'ra GDO code." He watched Jack frantically try to look for a trigger, but he didn't think there was one. "Jack, we need to contact the Tok'ra."

Meanwhile, as soon as Sam was done being rung up, she grabbed for her gun. She was hit by a zanikatel before she had a chance to use it. The close range knocked her out.

To be continued...


	3. Remembering

(Thank you, Athena, Ilaaris, sammie77, Roeskva, and natslou for the reviews.

Escudo, it goes 'The Question,' 'The Artifact,', an then 'The Enemy,' however, 'The Artifact' doesn't have importance to this story other than the fact that I use the same Tok'ra and some of the same relationships. I e-mailed you the details. If you have any other questions, let me know.

I hope you all continue to enjoy the story.)

Part 3, Remembering

"You were heroes, and you've not been forgotten." Aldwin tossed some dirt into a lake. "I've not forgotten you." He prepared to give a moment of silence, but that moment was interrupted by his name being called. He sighed before glancing towards the direction of the caller. "I'm here, Anise!"

The sense of a symbiote grew stronger and stronger, and soon Anise walked out into the glade. "You shouldn't be out here alone."

"I'm remembering Shorvek and Lon today." He saw Anise blush slightly.

"I apologize."

Aldwin looked back to the water. "Did someone send for me?" Anise didn't generally go looking for him on her own.

"I was on the surface when the stargate activated. I was sent to find you." She blushed again as Aldwin looked to her. "Though I feel more as though I was sent away and looking for you was an excuse."

Aldwin gave a small smirk as he started heading out of the small forest. "Let's face it, Anise. Neither of us are have the best fighting skills." He pulled out his zatnikatel as he neared the edge of the forest. He slowed and crouched. However, he soon saw who it was. "It's just SG-1."

"And Jack," Anise pointed out, wondering what he was doing here.

"Freya must be happy," Aldwin teased as he left the forest.

Anise eyeglowed in annoyance. "Freya and I are married now, and those feelings-" She stopped as Aldwin waved at her. She realized he wasn't going to listen.

_Where is Samantha?_ Gete thought.

Aldwin made a slight shrug, deciding to ask just that. As he approached, he noticed that Jack looked angry. He put on his best smile, wishing he'd not have to deal with the human. "Hello. General O'Neill, I am surprised." He looked over the group. "Where is Samantha?"

"That's what we came to talk to you about."

"Jack, the Tok'ra had nothing to do with it." Daniel didn't know what the deal with Vorran was, but he didn't believe the Tok'ra were behind it.

"They sent him!"

"I don't think we sent anyone to you," Aldwin replied.

_We could be wrong_, Gete thought as they were frowned at._ We have been on the surface all morning._

Aldwin continued, "Perhaps you should talk to Garshaw. She would know if we sent anyone." He lead the way to the rings, and they soon found Garshaw in a meeting room.

She approached as a bodyguard shadowed her. "Generall O'Neill."

_What is he angry about this time?_ Yosuuf asked. The man always seemed to be angry at the Tok'ra.

"One of your people took one of my people," Jack accused.

Garshaw was surprised to hear that, and Jack's tone put her defenses up. "We don't kidnap our allies."

"Well, Vorran did. He came to us, saying you guys wanted to work together on some mines."

Garshaw frowned. "Vorran is on vacation, and we certainly did not send him to you." She looked to Aldwin, giving him a silent order. Aldwin nodded, knowing she wanted him to check on where Vorran was supposed to be. He walked away. Garshaw then looked to Jack. "Start from the beginning."

--

Sam woke up in a bad mood. Her body seemed slow to respond at first, and it made her wonder if she had been drugged. She eased to her feet and looked around. She was on a ship, behind a forcefield. She looked to Vorran, who was standing there. "So, you've switched sides?"

"Not recently."

"So, you've been a traitor for a while now." She watched him smiled. "What do you want with me?"

"My friend was lonely."

Sam eyed him as he went to another part of the room. He came out carrying a tank, and she felt her stomach tighten when she saw a symbiote inside.

He set the tank down. "I have to leave her alone a lot, so I thought you could be her friend."

Sam shook her head, hiding her fear. "You aren't making me her host."

"Don't be ridiculous. She's only a larvae. You'll be too old by the time she's ready to take a host...no offense."

Sam felt a bit relieved to hear that, though it did worry her that he planned on keeping her captive for a long time.

"I had someone else in mind." He grinned. "When you lost conscious, I scanned you for hidden weapons. I was quite pleased with what I found... You won't be her host, but you will be providing her with one."

Sam frowned, and she fell ill when she saw him look down at her. She put a hand over her stomach. "W-what?"

"I suppose congratulations are in order." He grinned. "A lovely girl. I'll ensure she stays healthy."

Still in shock, Sam was shaking her head. She wanted to be happy. This was supposed to be happy news, but she feared what he would do to her daughter. She had to keep her child safe.

Vorran knelt down by the tank. The symbiote wasn't responding to him. "She's asleep right now." He pet the side of the tank. "She's beautiful, is she not?"

"How do you know it's a she?"

Vorran frowned. "I..." He shrugged. "I suppose she may prefer male hosts." He grinned. "It doesn't matter. It will be her choice." He moved closer to Sam. "She's my daughter."

"So you're a queen now?" Sam asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Of course not." He moved closer still, almost touching the force field. "I admit, I thought you had figured out I was lying."

"Excuse me?"

"I had forgotten Martouf's distaste for naquadah mines. I've not taken the time to care about the feelings of humans for quite some time."

"I'm guessing it's not just humans."

"True enough. When it comes to feelings, I've only cared about mine...until recently." He looked to the symbiote. "She doesn't seem to like me though."

Sam did her best to keep from smiling. If Vorran was being honest, then it was good to hear that that his daughter had rejected him. Overall though, it didn't help her from feeling sick. She wouldn't have gone on that mission if she had known she was pregnant. She'd have contacted the Tok'ra and requested for her family. She'd tell her husbands the news, and then she'd tell her father.

"For now, I hope your presence sooths her," Vorran said.

"How?"

Vorran didn't answer and simply walked away.

--

Meanwhile, Martouf had just been told the news about Sam, and now he felt as though his heart was in his throat. "We'll get her back," he said, mostly to himself.

_We will_, Lantash agreed. Lantash felt his host put his face into his hands. _I'm coming_, Lantash thought as he took over before Martouf lost it in front of the group. He looked to Garshaw. "Did Aldwin find anything?" His own emotions were getting the best of him. The humans wouldn't be able to tell so much, but the other Tok'ra would surely hear the anger in his voice.

"Vorran isn't where he said he would be," Garshaw replied. "The natives said he gave a hello the day he arrived, but they have not seen him since."

Lantash shook his head. "I don't understand Vorran's actions."

"If Vorran is indeed responsible, then he is a traitor. He will be executed for his actions."

Daniel's eyebrows raised a bit. "Executed for a kidnapping? That seems...harsh." Even if Sam was the one kidnapped, it bothered him that the man was already sentenced.

Garshaw turned to him. "Traitors of the Tok'ra are always executed. Besides...who knows what else he is done."

"We should try to capture him alive," Lantash put in. "To question him." He wanted to do the questioning.

Garshaw nodded. "I agree." She looked to Kela'an, who had been called in.

"I've taken another look at recent Goa'uld activity, trying to see if any of the new ones could be him. I don't think he'd go by his name."

"Anything?"

"There's a few new ones who've gotten a bit of power, but they haven't done much else. Any of them could be him. I've also had the sector Colonel Carter was taken from monitored. I haven't found anything there."

"So, basically, you don't have anything," Jack said.

Daniel glanced to Jack before asking, "Do you know any reason why he'd take Sam?"

"There could be a number of reasons he would want someone from Stargate Command," Garshaw replied.

"Well, yes, but he didn't just want anyone. He wanted her. He specifically asked SG-1 to be sent with him, and then he asked her to help him."

Lantash felt Martouf cringe to hearing this.

"We'll look into it," Garshaw replied. There was a number of things to look for. Were any new bounties put on her? Had an Ashrak been sent after her? Had she angered any Goa'uld recently? There was also some basics she chose not to mention. Someone may be looking to buy a new female slave or a new female host.

"Currently there aren't any reasons that we know about," Kela'an admitted.

"There has to be something we can do," Jack replied. He felt the need to do something. He blamed himself for this. He should have offered to help Vorran. He should have followed her more closely. He should have fired sooner. Something. Anything!

"Without having any idea of where they are, there is nothing you can do."

And he certainly didn't want to go back to the SGC and wait for news from the Tok'ra. He didn't want to rely on them to find Sam. A dread filled him as he realized that was basically what he had to do. "Mind having company?"

"We don't mind," Garshaw replied. "However, we will be changing bases very soon." The Tok'ra on other planets were already in the process.

Jack looked to Daniel and Teal'c. "Stay with them for now. Do whatever you can." He got a nod from both of them. He stood up. He had to return to the SGC and see if there was something he could do from there.

"Jack, we'll find her," Daniel offered.

Jack nodded. "Good luck." He looked to both Daniel and Teal'c before leaving.

Garshaw watched him leave before looking back to Kela'an. "Continue on your search." She watched him leave.

Daniel glanced to Kela'an before looking to Garshaw. He was about to ask about Jacob when Lantash spoke. "How long has she been missing?"

"Since midday yesterday."

Lantash felt Martouf cringe again. "Why did it take so long to bring this to the attention of the Tok'ra?"

"We were a ways from the stargate when he took her."

"I believe that was intentional," Garshaw put in as she looked to Martouf. She gave a brief version of the story.

Daniel listened. After she was done he noticed Aldwin come in. "Aldwin."

"Gete," Gete replied.

Daniel never could tell them apart by expression alone. They had very similar personalities. "Sorry."

Gete shrugged before looking to Garshaw. "If there is nothing else, Aldwin and I would like to continue the return ceremony." He watched her nod before leaving.

"Return ceremony?" Daniel started looking to Garshaw, but she was heading out. He then looked to Lantash.

"For Shorvek and Lon," Lantash explained. "Symbiote and host." He thought it was best to mention that. "They disappeared ten years ago, soon after we met you." He frowned slightly. "It was rather strange. We were on our new base for only a couple days when they requested to go to the surface. Permission was granted, and they went up."

Daniel waited for a finish, but Lantash didn't continue. "Then what?"

"That was it. No one ever saw them again. We searched the whole planet for them, but there was nothing. There was no signs of a ship. We know they didn't go through the stargate because it was being guarded." He paused briefly before continually. "Aldwin and Gete perform the return ceremony every year."

Daniel wondered if it would help to perform one for Sam. Right now there really wasn't anything else to do.

To be continued...


	4. Hak'Kal'ma

(Thank you, Roeskva. Sorry this part took so long.)

Part 4, Hak'Kal'ma

Sam looked up as Vorran came into the room. He went to the tank and began talking in Goa'uld again. He put his hand into the tank, but was angrily squealed at. Suddenly the symbiote launched and began repeatedly biting him. He quickly pulled his hand out. Vorran's eyes flashed as he looked over his hand, which was now dripping blood. His pinkie had been bitten off and was now at the bottom of the tank. So much damage done in so little time. He quickly wrapped his hand.

"She doesn't like you," Sam said. She wondered where he got the symbiote from. She hadn't seen one react so aggressively to the one raising it.

"She will in time." Vorran did his best to hide the hurt in his expression, but it was clear. He shook his head, trying to hide the fact that tears were coming up. When he thought he looked less upset, he headed to the brig. "Pet her," he ordered as he took down the forcefield. He noticed Sam frown. "She needs to be held. I want her to be happy."

Sam noticed the zatnikatel on him. He'd pull that out if she tried anything. She walked over to the tank. "Hello there. You need a name." She was worried about her hand looking like his. Being zapped might be better.

"Her name is Hak'Kal'ma. It means Advanced Child. She'll pick out her real name after she's taken a host."

Sam looked at the water, stalling.

"Pet her or I'll kill your child." His eyes glowed.

She hated that he had that leverage over her. Sam sighed before carefully putting her left hand in the water. She watched the symbiote rush to her hand, and for a second, she anticipated having to pull her hand out. Instead of biting, the symbiote wrapped itself around her fingers. She hesitated before petting the symbiote with her other hand.

"She likes you," Vorran said, his voice filled with jealousy. He watched for a moment before his anger got the best of him. "That's enough petting now. Get back to your cell."

Sam unwrapped the symbiote from her hand and went back into the brig. She had been looking for a chance to attack, but it never came. Vorran was too careful. She watched the forcefield go up. "Where did you get her?" She wondered if he had kidnapped the symbiote. That would explain the aggression towards him.

"I created her..." He hesitated before continuing. "Though you have noticed...she's not taken well to me." He looked to the symbiote. "I thought..." He shook his head. "Hopefully you'll make her happy. She'll sense Jolinar within you, and I hope that calms her."

"She won't sense Jolinar. She'll sense what's left of Jolinar. That's not the same thing."

"It doesn't matter so much. She's young, and she's not yet figured out how to fully understand what she is sensing, so unless I tell her, she won't know Jolinar is dead."

Sam frowned. "Didn't this conversation tell her?"

"Actually, I discovered that she's not picked up the English language, so you can't tell her anything. That's another reason I picked you. You won't be able to understand each other, so you can't manipulate her. She may be from a Tok'ra, but I'll teach her the true way to live as a symbiote. You'll merely be there to comfort her."

There were parts of that that made no sense. "She's from a Tok'ra. What do..." Sam stopped as she remembered his mention of creating the symbiote. "She's a clone."

Vorran looked startled for a second. He seemed to move on quickly though, simply smiling. "She is."

Sam wondered who he cloned. Whoever it was, she pitied them. "Why would Jolinar make her feel better?"

"Not Jolinar specifically. It doesn't matter what Tok'ra died in you, so long as one did."

Sam found herself glad that Martouf and Lantash would never hear those words. "Why would a symbiote presence-"

"A Tok'ra presence," Vorran corrected.

"She won't be able to sense the difference."

"Oh, she will." he responded matter-of-factly. He turned back to the tank, smiling as the symbiote woke up and began swimming around. "Queens have a better sense than their offspring."

Sam was quiet for a few seconds, the shock of what he just said... "You cloned Egeria?"

"Isn't she beautiful?" Vorran replied as he gestured to the larvae, who was now looking at Sam. He was filled with pride.

"You had no right. The Tok'ra-"

"Will never find out." Vorran crossed his arms. "I'll raise my child to be strong, to not lower herself to the human levels. By the time they know of her, they'll never suspect she's the clone of their queen."

Sam looked to the larvae. "Egeria was stronger than you imagined-"

"She was my queen, not yours."

"-and so will be her clone."

"We'll see." He walked out of the room.

Sam looked at the clone, who squealed at her. She now had two children to save.

--

It was one thing to hang around the Tok'ra tunnels feeling helpless. It was another to have to talk to the one Tok'ra that made him feel uneasy. Daniel looked over the information that Kela'an had given him. "All right."

"Will that be all?" Kela'an asked. He was polite, but he clearly wanted Daniel to leave.

"Yeah." Daniel set the papers down. "That's all." Daniel turned and rushed out of the room. On the way, he nearly ran into Anise, which made things worse.

"Hello Daniel," Anise replied with a smile.

"Hi Anise."

She watched him looked back uneasily. "He doesn't blame you for what happened on Neeria."

Daniel nodded. "I know. He mentioned that a while ago."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"I know."

"Then stop blaming yourself."

Daniel sighed. "Anise..." He sighed again. "I'm sorry."

"We had amnesia, and then we..." She paused as she saw Kela'an approaching.

"Had sex," Kela'an finished, which made both Anise and Daniel glance down. "Drack and I realize that no one is to blame." He knew it. He said it several times. The feeling was still there though. The need to blame them was something he couldn't destroy. It made for awkward moments whenever he was around Daniel.

_Our marriage is more important than feelings we shouldn't be having_, Drack thought.

_I know._ He decided to change the topic. "I will keep looking for signs of Samantha or Vorran." When it came to communications, Kela'an was usually the one assigned to it. He glanced between them before heading back to his post. He sat down. It didn't take long before he sensed Anise approaching.

"Nothing has been found?"

Kela'an shook his head before giving Drack control. Drack looked over to her. "Nothing new."

"I don't understand Vorran's actions. He's always been loyal to the Tok'ra."

Drack looked back to his screen. He didn't want to miss anything. "So was Cordesh."

Though she wasn't the one in control, Freya felt a chill go over her skin. She couldn't imagine what his host had been put through, and the idea scared her.

_I'd never do that to you_, Anise thought firmly, though she had no idea what "that" was. She sat down near Drack. "Do you need any help? Freya and I are fast readers."

Drack smiled as he took her hand. "You can help." He gave her a small kiss before moving over so they could read the screen together.

--

_Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal!_

Sam looked at the symbiote, which was fiercely swimming around the tank. Something had upset it, though she didn't know what. "What's wrong?" she asked, even though it couldn't understand her and she couldn't understand it.

_Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal! Squeeeeeeeeal! Squeeeeeeeeal!_ It was pissed about something.

"That's not going to help you." She wondered what the maturity level of the symbiote was. How many of Egeria's memories did it have? Did those memories have the same effect as the memories a larvae normally had? If that was the case, the symbiote was as much of a baby as any other symbiote that age would be. Did the memories make it more mature though?

_Squeeeeeeeeal! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal!_

She had her doubts about that. The symbiote was young and didn't know how to handle itself like a mature symbiote. At least, she couldn't picture a mature Egeria swimming in circles, screaming, and basically throwing a temper tantrum. "All right, so you're an infant still. You must have some memories though." She spoke in a calm voice. "I don't know what's wrong, but you need to relax. You're going to get his attention, and from what I've seen, you aren't too fond of him, so you don't want him here."

The clone slowed down before looking at her.

"Do you feel better now?" Sam chuckled. "He seems to have big plans. Long term plans. You have to be stronger than those plans. You have to show him he can't change who you are. I mean, I know you aren't her, but you are her clone...at least he says you're her clone."

_Squeak?_

"I think-" She stopped as she heard a door opened. She watched Vorran walk in.

"I heard squealing," he stated.

"Well, it wasn't me."

He went to the tank and began talking in Goa'uld. Sam couldn't understand what he was saying, but she noticed it only angered the symbiote. He shook his head and approached the brig. "She'll learn to like me."

"She seems to hate you."

"Nonsense, I'm one of Egeria's children." He looked to the tank. "She just doesn't remember me yet. As soon as she accesses those memories, she'll love me. I will raise her as my child, and I will be the grandfather of all her children."

"So, that's why you cloned her. You want to rule her offspring."

Vorran smiled. "I'll be a good grandfather, and yes, I will rule them." He paused briefly. "If she doesn't come to my way...well, I'll just use a sarcophagus. That will force her to see my way of thinking."

"That's cheating."

He shrugged. "I've done it before."

Sam inwardly shuddered, wondering how many poor Tok'ra he shoved into sarcophagus and corrupted. "What happened to them? What happened to their hosts?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Vorran gave a slight shrug. "They are no longer an issue." He walked out of the room.

Sam sat down and looked to the symbiote. "You need a better name."

_Squeal._

Sam thought of all the myths and legends she heard from Daniel. She'd have to pick a name that wasn't already used. A story she heard recently came to mind. "Have you heard of Iasis? The story is she was a nymph who could cure disease. My friend Daniel told me about it. He mentioned it in front of Tok'ra, and they had never heard of the name, so there probably isn't a Goa'uld using it. Iasis is better than Hak'Kal'ma...mostly because Vorran didn't come up with it."

The newly renamed symbiote made a sharp and short squeal that sounded like a chirp.

Sam frowned. "That's not a good response to the name."

_Squeeeal._

"Iasis."

_Squeal._

It seemed it wasn't the name the symbiote had responded to. Sam started repeating the name to get the symbiote used to hearing it. She noticed the symbiote responded each time. She remembered Lantash teaching her the symbiote words for yes and no. Maybe this was insane, but... "Are you saying yes?"

_Squeal._ Iasis wiggled.

"You understand me?"

_Squeal._

"Say no."

_Chirp._

Either she learned English very quickly or she hid her knowledge of the language from Vorran. Either way, Vorran had underestimated her.

To be continued...


	5. Coded

(Thank you Roeskva, Ilaaris, and manticore-gurl071134. I'm glad you like Iasis.)

Part 5, Coded

Aldwin woke up to a kiss on the forehead. He rubbed his eyes and found Malek looking at him. "Hello."

"You fell asleep by the lake."

Aldwin turned over, feeling sore. "That wasn't the intention." He rubbed his arm, which had fallen asleep. Disliking the feeling, he concentrated on fixing it.

"Is Gete awake?" Malek asked.

"He's still asleep."

"So is Amb. I think I will stare at you until he wakes up. Then you are the first thing he sees." Malek smiled.

"I can think of something better." Aldwin pulled him closer and kissed him. He felt Gete starting to wake up, and Aldwin helped him along. He smiled after the kiss. _Good morning._ "Did that wake him?"

"It did."

_I'd like to wake up like that more often_, Gete thought as he tried to stretch. The problem was his arms didn't move when he tried to move them. He felt Aldwin retreat so he could stretch. He stood up. "Any news about Samantha?"

"No."

"How are Lantash and Martouf doing?"

"Martouf is dealing by being sad. He hides in his room while looking through all all the material Kela'an sends him. Lantash is dealing by being angry. He's snapping at everyone, and even Garshaw is avoiding him."

"I can't imagine him snapping at her."

"He hasn't, but she said she's not going stick around and wait for him to do so."

Aldwin made a nod, and he followed Malek to the stargate. "Why are we going here?"

"We moved bases."

"Oh." Aldwin felt guilty for sleeping through that. He wished he had helped.

"It won't be long," Malek said as he dialed.

They went through and quickly found the new tunnels. They found Kela'an on the receiving end of Lantash's anger. Aldwin stepped aside as someone moved passed him. He noticed it was Jacob. "When did Jacob get here?"

"A few minutes ago," Jacob replied, sounding angry. He looked to Kela'an. "Why is my daughter missing?"

Kela'an wondered how he managed to get the blame. "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." He looked glanced between Jacob and Lantash. "I'm still looking." He tried to squirm away.

Aldwin found himself being reminded of when Tur and Relek were killed. He had been in that exact spot. Except it had been Selmak and Martouf, though they had been a bit more reasonable. Still, he felt the need to help Kela'an. "I don't think getting on Kela'an's case is going to help anything."

Jacob looked to Aldwin. "Vorran probably wasn't working alone. He had to be contacting someone, and that means his messages were missed." He looked back to Kela'an. "How were they missed?"

"I don't know," Kela'an said as he attempted to make his escape. "I'm checking everything now. Let me check."

"Fine. Go check. Be useful." Jacob replied.

_That was rude_, Selmak thought as Kela'an practically ran off.

_I don't need a lecture on kindness right now. I just came back from a mission to find out my daughter is missing._ Jacob sat down.

_Taking your anger out on the wrong person isn't going to help any. You and Lantash both know that._

Malek stepped in closer. "Lantash, have you looked over the latest reports?" Lantash looked like he was about to explode with anger, and Malek recalled the time he visited the other Tok'ra soon after learning of Jolinar's and Rosha's deaths. Lantash's quarters had been littered with pieces of broken items that had been thrown against the walls.

Lantash realized that Malek was there. "I haven't." He walked over and hugged Malek.

_Keep hugging him_, Martouf thought as he felt his symbiote calm down.

_I feel as though I failed her_, Lantash thought.

_I feel the same. _He felt the presence of another Tok'ra, and he turned around. He was surprised to see Kela'an had returned.

_Be kind_, Martouf ordered.

Lantash glanced to Jacob, who looked like he got the same order from Selmak. Lantash took a step towards Kela'an. "Did you find something?" He noticed Kela'an was still in control and vaguely realized he hadn't seen Drack in control all day.

_Drack is probably hiding from you_, Martouf thought.

Lantash frowned, feeling a bit bad about that.

Kela'an glanced around. "Anise and I have been looking at older transmissions. This morning we thought that Vorran might have used our transmissions to send out his own. That way we wouldn't detect any extra messages being sent."

Jacob nodded for Kela'an to continue.

"Just now, Anise found some of his transmissions, hidden to look like static. They are coded."

"Do you know who he's working for?"

"From what we can tell, his messages are for Bastet."

Lantash felt Martouf grow angrier. "Is there anything about Samantha?"

"I don't know, but some of the messages seem to refer to the planet Horda."

"We should go investigate now," Lantash said. He looked to Jacob, wanting permission.

"We should, but right now, aren't we missing someone?"

"Who?"

"Daniel and Teal'c."

"Oh."

"Actually, Daniel may be more useful in helping me to decode the transmissions," Kela'an admitted. "He may find patterns that I miss."

_Unfortunately_, Drack thought.

_It won't be any easier on him than it will be for us._ Kela'an glanced between Jacob and Lantash, knowing they wouldn't like what he had to say next. "I also could use the help of one of your blending partners."

"Excuse me?" Jacob asked.

"The code seems to be based on the Kiron language... Selmak, Martouf, and Lantash are the only ones who know that language."

Martouf was given control, and he made a slight nod. "I'll stay."

Jacob was very thankful as he looked to him. "Are you sure?"

"I know the language better than Selmak." It was after all, his native language. Selmak had only learned it for Tur's sake.

"Thank you," Jacob said. He knew how much Martouf and Lantash wanted to go, and though this was the logical choice, he was still grateful. He looked between Aldwin and Malek, wondering which one of would be best to go.

_What about Teal'c?_ Selmak asked.

Jacob didn't like the idea of separating Teal'c and Daniel. He shook his head slightly to the suggestion. "Malek?"

"I am ready."

Jacob nodded and headed off. It was times like this that he was glad that he and Selmak were on the high council. Anyone else would have to find a council member and get permission. He headed to the weapons storage and got a zatnikatel. "The last we heard, Horda was abandoned. That might be changed."

"I know the risk," Malek replied as he grabbed a weapon. He didn't mind being picked, but he did wonder the reasoning for it. He wasn't the best fighter.

_I'll take care of you_, Amb thought.

Malek gave a small smile as he followed Jacob up to the surface. "What exactly is the plan?"

"We look around, and if we happen to find Sam, we get her back. Either way, we return and report back." He noticed Malek playing with his hands. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine."

Jacob dialed out. "Good." He raised his weapon and headed through the stargate. He glanced to Malek after stepping out from the other side. No one else seemed to be here. "Let's follow the road." He started heading down, but turned when Malek didn't follow. He noticed Malek had almost a glazed look in his eyes. "Malek?"

Malek aimed his zatnikatel at Jacob and fired.

To be continued...


	6. The Forest

(Thank you Roeskva and manticore-gurl071134. I hope you enjoy the next part.)

Part 6, The Forest

Jacob dodged out of the way. _Holy Hannah. _He fired back at Malek, expecting that to take the Tok'ra down. Instead it only seemed to slow him down.

_Well, that looks very zatarcy_, Selmak thought. _Run!_

_I am running!_ Jacob replied as he started doing just that. Thankfully there was a forest nearby. He dodged behind some bushes. _Now what?_ He aimed his weapon as Malek walked in his direction.

_Don't shoot him. You'll kill him._

_I might not have a choice._ Jacob ducked as Malek began firing in his direction. Jacob crawled to another place for cover as he watched his previous bush disappear. _If he's a zatarc, and I'm the target, why didn't the program set off until now._

_I don't know._

Jacob moved further into cover before he felt safe enough to take off running. Now he really hoped the planet was indeed empty. He didn't want to meet any other people while running from Malek.

_He's running after us_, Selmak thought.

_I realize that. _Jacob changed direction, taking a path that wouldn't leave obvious track marks. _Hopefully that'll slow him down. _He hid his tracks, ducked down, and waited. _Where did he go?_

_I don't know. Let's return to the stargate._

Jacob nodded and quietly made his way back to the stargate. He listened and sensed for any signs of Malek. As he arrived at the edge of the forest, he cursed to himself.

_That's why he disappeared. He went back to the stargate._

Jacob looked to his zatniktel.

_Unless you plan on killing him, I wouldn't suggest using that right now. You'll only reveal your location._

Jacob watched as Malek scanned the area with lifeless eyes.

_The program seems to have been upgraded_, Selmak thought. _The zatarcs before would have gone into self destructed by now._

_That could explain why the program didn't activate until now._ Jacob sighed as he wondered if the real Malek and Amb had any idea what was going on. The complete lack of expression indicated that they were buried.

_Hopefully they aren't aware of what's going on_, Selmak thought as she shuddered at the idea of them helplessly watching from within.

Jacob retreated back, enough that he could still see Malek, but he knew Malek couldn't see him. He pulled out a long distance communicator. _Should we risk it?_

_If we don't, they'll come looking for us, and Malek might attack anyone who comes through._

Jacob turned it on. It was coded, but he still worried that Vorran had a way of detecting it. He gave Selmak control. Selmak kept an eye on Malek as she spoke. "This is Selmak, calling any Tok'ra in the area. Please, respond." She paused briefly, wondering how much information to give. She decided to leave it at that before sending out the message. Best to get a response before getting into the details.

--

Sam had been moved. Vorran had come, hit her with a zatnikatel, and she had woken up in a new room with a small shallow pool. She was sure she was on a planet now. She was currently sitting at the edge of the pool, watching Iasis swim. She had only been the new room about a day, but she had quickly learned a particular set of commands in squeal. That being, "pet me."

Sam closed her eyes, feeling sick. Vorran might be making sure she was healthy, but he wasn't doing anything to ease her discomfort. "Iasis?"

_Sque-eal._

Sam opened her eyes and saw Iasis in front of her. It was the same squeak always used for her. She didn't know what it meant. Probably some variation of the word human. She picked up the symbiote. "He's getting angry at your refusal to accept him. You need to pretend you like him."

_Chirp._

"He cares about you in some sick way that he thinks is love. If you don't respond, he'll force you to change for him."

_Chirp._

"You don't have a choice."

Iasis squealed angrily, though Sam had no idea what she was squealing. She had figured out that she was indeed dealing with a larvae in body and mind.

"If you don't, he'll separate us."

Iasis stopped squealing and curled up.

"Please."

_Squeal, Sque-eal._

Sam smiled. "Good." She ran a finger down Iasis' back before putting the symbiote back in the water.

--

"Selmak, this is Korra. I received your message. Respond."

Selmak looked to the communication device. She picked it up. "Korra, where are you? I'm on the planet Horda."

The quick response told Selmak that Korra was very close. "Within the same system. Do you need help?"

"Yes, but I have a problem." Selmak looked over to the stargate where Malek still was. "Malek and I arrived here, and he... I believe he's a zatarc. He attacked us as soon as we arrived."

"Is he still alive?" The worry in Korra's voice was clear.

"He is, but I don't know for how much longer. We've been on the planet for several hours now. The Tok'ra will be sending someone to come looking for us soon, and I fear he'll attack anyone who comes through." Selmak paused briefly. "Do you know any way to neutralized a zatarc without killing the person?"

"A shock grenade might."

_That's a big might_, Jacob thought.

"Try a couple of those," Selmak ordered.

"Very well," Korra responded.

Selmak looked to Malek. A moment later, rings came down right next to him. Two shock grenades were left behind. Malek aimed his zatnikatel at the nearest grenade, but didn't fire. Instead he stared at the device, as though he had never seen it before. Selmak ducked and soon felt and heard the grenades go off. When she dared a look, she saw Malek on the floor. Then she saw Malek being rung up. "Thank you, Korra."

A few minutes passed before Korra's voice was heard on the communication device. "Are you ready?"

_I wish we could explore this planet_, Jacob thought.

_Another time. _"We are ready." Selmak watched the rings surround her. She found herself face to face with Korra. "Where's Malek."

Korra gestured to Malek, unconscious, with his hands and feet bounded. Then he went to the helm. "I was heading back to the base when I received your message."

"Let them know you have us. We'll continue on, but first we have a job to do."

Korra nodded as he started tapping at the console.

--

Malek woke up blind. He tried to move and found that his hands and feet were tied. He sensed two symbiotes near him. "Selmak?"

"I'm here," Selmak replied as she knelt by Malek.

Malek looked in her direction. "Were we attacked?"

"What do you remember?"

Malek frowned. "We arrived at the planet. You started heading down the stairs, and now I'm tied up and blind."

"You were hit with two shock grenades. You'll be able to see soon...hopefully." Two shock grenades would blind a normal human. Selmak hoped that Amb hadn't been permanently blinded.

"Have we been captured?"

"No..." Selmak sighed. "Malek, you attacked me."

Malek frowned. "I did not. Selmak, you know me. I would never attack you or any other Tok'ra." His voice was defensive.

Selmak stood and walked away. She heard Malek calling for her.

_He needs to know what he is._

_If I tell him, the program may reactivate._

_The alternative is he thinks you think he's a traitor, and the program may reactive anyway._

Selmak looked back to Malek, noticing he was looking in her direction. He wasn't looking directly at her, which told her that he was still blind. "Malek, I believe you are a zatarc."

Malek paled.

_How are we not dead then?_ Amb asked.

Selmak knelt down by Malek. "I'm sorry. That's why we used two grenades on you. I feared one wouldn't be enough, and..."

Malek faced to the ground. "If I am a zatarc, then I failed Amb."

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

"He doesn't...but I do." Malek closed his eyes.

"You are both still alive. I intend on keeping it that way."

Malek nodded, still looking at the ground.

_Selmak is right_, Amb thought. _We can't sit here and wait for it activate._

Malek nodded again, though he couldn't help it. He and Amb were both anticipating it now. "How long until we arrive at the base?"

"A few minutes."

--

Vorran stood while he was given orders. Bastet was mostly asking him where he had been. Of course she wouldn't understand that he had his own goals. Even if she did, she wouldn't care. "Yes, my lady."

"Don't forget that you need me," Bastet added.

"Never, my lady."

"Where have you been?"

"The Tok'ra have been keeping me occupied. I haven't been able to get away from them."

"I've heard that you've been avoiding them as much as you have been avoiding me."

"That is not true, my lady. I may be away from them, but I am still in communications with them. If I change my location, they will suspect me."

"That is not my problem."

Vorran kept himself from sighing. "What do you want?"

"Give me the location of the Tok'ra Base."

"I told you, they moved, and they have not yet told me where they moved to."

"You have two days to find out." She settled in her chair and waved him away.

Vorran made a bow before leaving. _This better be worth it_, he thought, and he repeated it to himself before dialing to Horda. The tracks made by Selmak and Malek were gone. Selmak and Korra had made a point to hiding them. Vorran continued until he reached a point in the forest. He activated rings around him and was brought down into the earth.

The tunnels he walked through now were basically the same as the Tok'ra tunnels. They made him feel more at home, and now he had company. He entered the one room that didn't look like it had been formed from crystals. He hadn't wanted Samantha to figure out she was underground.

He ignored Samantha as he entered and went to the pool. He was surprised when the symbiote rushed to the side of the pool. "Blue!" it squealed. "I remember you now!"

He smiled and knelt down the pool. The frustration of the situation seemed to melt away. "You remember me, Hak'kal'ma?" He spoke in Goa'uld.

"Yes!"

He picked up the symbiote and pet it. "Thank you. Thank you." He kissed the symbiote's back.

"I sorry. I sorry I bite you."

"No worries. I forgive you." His right hand was now scarred, and the pinkie was still missing. He didn't care though. He looked to Sam. "I told you I just needed time," he said in English. Then he looked back to the clone, switching back to Goa'uld. "Have you been enjoying her company?"

"Yes."

"I think-"

"Can I go outside?"

Vorran frowned at the interruption. "Outside?"

"Room boring."

"Oh, all right." Keeping a watch on Sam, he took the symbiote out of the room. "Do these tunnels look familiar? This is your home. I grew them just for us."

"Where my children?"

Vorran frowned. "You don't have any children."

"I remember children."

"You remember Egeria having children. Egeria is my queen. You are her clone and my daughter." He rung up to the surface.

It seemed the symbiote became more interested in the forest than the conversation. Iasis began looking around and asked Vorran to walk around. She wiggled in joy when they came to a river, and she slipped out of Vorran's hands. _Splash._

"Hak'kal'ma, get back here," Vorran said as he followed her into the water.

Meanwhile, Sam was waiting in the room. She didn't know how long they would be gone. She was using the time trying to open the door. So far she was unsuccessful. They were gone for a while, and when they returned, Vorran was soaking wet. He put Iasis in the pool before leaving.

Sam went to the pool, and now she felt worried. What if he had convinced Iasis that he was right? It had been frustrating to see them talk and not know what they were saying. "Iasis."

_Sque-eal._

"Are we on a planet?"

_Squeak._

Sam then proceeded to ask about the terrain. After several yes or no questions, she figured out there was a forest and a river. The stargate was in sensible range of Iasis, but Iasis had not seen it.

To be continued...


	7. Zatarcs

(Thank you for the reviews.)

Part 7, Zatarcs

Martouf and Jacob stood outside of the brig that Malek was in. They watched their friend play with his hands with a blank stare. "Has Aldwin visited you?" Martouf asked.

"He visited. We cuddled, and then I told him to leave so I don't kill him."

"I'm going to give my report soon."

Malek nodded. "I hope you have learned enough to find Samantha."

Martouf watched him for a moment more before leaving. He went to the meeting room where he found Garshaw and Yosuuf, Aldwin and Gete, Anise and Freya, Kela'an and Drack, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, and guards. He sat down. Jacob joined soon afterwards.

Garshaw looked to Martouf. "Have you found anything in the messages?"

"Not much. Vorran is doing small jobs for Bastet, and in exchange, he gets a sarcophagus."

"He is probably keeping it on Horda," Freya added.

Martouf nodded, as he figured that as well. "If we go to Horda, we'll probably find him. I would suggest-" He stopped as he noticed the Tok'ra healer, Kilso, coming in. He looked back to Garshaw. "Many of his recent messages to her seem to be excuses for not doing whatever it is she's asking."

"Bastet is tolerating this?" Jack asked.

"I doubt she will for much longer. He's using the Tok'ra as a reason for not being able to finish his jobs."

Daniel looked to Jack. "He's been saying the Tok'ra have been keeping a closer watch on him."

"So he openly betrays the Tok'ra while he's giving Bastet the brush off," Jack stated. "All for Sam?"

"I think Sam's only part of it," Daniel stated. "He's been giving Bastet the brush off for months. To be honest, I'm surprised she hasn't killed him yet."

"Whatever he's been doing," Freya added, "he seems to be doing it on his own."

"We'll sent people to Horda," Garshaw stated. "Hopefully he is truly on his own, and he doesn't have much for guards." She looked to Kilso. "Have you found anything with Malek?"

"I've been comparing him and Amb to to the last known scans of a zatarc, and I believe if it safe to say he is one...just...upgraded."

"Updated how?" Jack asked.

"Well, as Jacob noticed, the program doesn't activate until alone with the target. Also, instead of making the victim suicidal, it seems to erase their memories of the action. I might be able to figure out how to remove the program, but it's going to take some time."

"The program might not allow Malek that time," Jacob said. He frowned as he noticed Aldwin rubbing his hands.

"That is a problem. The shock grenades seem to reset the program, but it can still activate. The real problem is-"

"Aldwin?" Jacob asked, interrupting Kilso.

"Yes?"

"Are you all right?"

"Of course." Aldwin put his hands in his lap.

Jacob frowned as he remembered Malek doing that in the brig and before they headed off to the other planet.

"Um, well, as I was saying," Kilso continued, "the real problem is figuring out who else has this program. Given what it takes to active, the program could have been in Malek for years before activating."

Aldwin began rubbing his hands again. Selmak took over and watched. She remembered Aldwin doing just this right before Relek and Tur were killed. Was this a normal habit for him? She couldn't remember either Aldwin or Malek playing with their hands like this before. "Do you know who the target was?" She looked to Kilso. "Was it me specifically or was it something more general?"

"I don't know."

Selmak's eyes flared.

"Selmak?" Garshaw asked, wondering what was going on.

_We seem to be missing something_, Yosuuf thought.

"We'll start examining every Tok'ra then," Selmak said.

"Of course," Kilso replied.

"Starting with Aldwin."

"What?" Aldwin stopped rubbing his hands. "Me?" He figured he'd be examined, but he didn't expect to be pointed out as the first one to be examined.

Garshaw glanced between them. "Aldwin, perhaps it would be best if you left."

Aldwin looked to her. At least she looked as confused as he felt.

_Come on. Let's go_, Gete thought.

Aldwin nodded and left. He noticed one of the guards follow him.

Garshaw turned to Selmak. "I assume you had your reasons for wanting to question him first."

Selmak was realizing how silly "because he rubbed his hands" would sound. Still...

_Just remember that if you are right, Aldwin can't be blamed for what a program made him do_, Jacob thought.

_I know. _Selmak looked to Martouf and found herself wishing Martouf wasn't there at the moment. "I was thinking... Something about the attack on me. It reminded me about the attack on Relek."

"What?" Martouf asked.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Relek," Selmak repeated as she looked to Jack. "He was a Tok'ra who was killed three years ago. I left him and Aldwin alone on a planet. Later, Aldwin returned to the base with..." Selmak glanced down. "Relek and his host had been killed, and..."

"I'm guessing Aldwin was the only suspect," Jack added.

"Basically. There was no evidence that anyone else had been around, and Aldwin admitted to losing track of time."

"And it didn't occur to anyone to question him with the _zatarc_ detector?"

"We trusted Aldwin," Martouf replied, sounding calmer than he was. "He also wasn't the only suspect. Someone else could been there, covered their tracks, and left by the time Aldwin returned. Ashraks are known to do just that. We also had no way of knowing that the zatarc programing had been upgraded."

Garshaw decided to ignore Jack's comments and gave her attention to Kilso. "Check on Aldwin, and see if Selmak is right."

Kilso nodded and left.

Garshaw then looked to Selmak. "Investigate Horda, and see if Vorran is there. Take who you think you need, but remember everyone going needs to be checked by our healers first...including you."

Selmak nodded and stood. "Lantash. Kela'an."

Freya was worried as she stood. "Kela'an?" She looked to him.

Kela'an gave her a kiss. "I'll be careful." He watched Selmak and Martouf leave. He then looked to Daniel. "I guess we'll be going on a mission together."

"Yeah."

"We seem to work well together."

Freya gave Kela'an another kiss, and she switched control to Anise halfway through. "All right, now Drack." She smiled as Drack was given control. She kissed him, and halfway through, gave Freya control. Afterwards, she walked to the infirmary with them.

Thankfully, detecting a zatarc was much easier when you know what to look for. Kilso ran scans on those going to the planet before declaring them safe.

Getting ready after that was easy. The Tok'ra were ready, SG-1 was ready, and though he wasn't really supposed to go, Jack was ready. They arrived at the planet and noticed it was rather quiet.

"Did you notice anything of interest before?" Lantash asked.

"No," Jacob answered. "Though I admit I wasn't paying attention." He started heading into the forest.

--

Sam felt sick, and having Vorran watching her wasn't helping. "Staring at me isn't going to make me not throw up."

"You keep wasting my food."

"If you don't like it, then return me back to where you found me."

Vorran sighed as he took out a healing device. He knelt down by Sam.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded as she backed away.

"I'm trying to help."

"I don't trust you."

"I'm helping you."

"Helping me? You want to make my child into an unwilling host."

"Yes, but she'll live several happy years before that happens. I'll help you raise her until then."

"She has a father!" Sam yelled, angry that Vorran thought he could just step in and be the dad until her daughter was old enough to be a host. "Two of them! Now, get away from me!"

Vorran stepped away. "Very well." He watched her throw up again. "See? I could have prevented that."

She felt a bit better now, and Sam went to the wall. She watched Vorran head back to the door. As he started to leave, the console by the door beeped. Distracted, he went to the console and didn't quite close the door. "Hmm."

Sam took notice, and she hoped he didn't. "Wait."

"Yes?" He turned to her.

She wondered if she could attack him. She didn't know his fighting skills, and she didn't trust herself to not get sick during the fight. "Aren't you going to clean it?" She gestured to the floor.

"You can do it."

As he started turning around, Sam decided she had to get him over here. "I'll put it in the pool."

He turned back to her. "That's disgusting. Hak'Kal'ma lives in there."

"Then you have to clean it up."

Vorran sighed and started walking back. Sam remained sitting so he'd not realize she could be a threat. As he got down to clean the mess, Sam got up and kicked his side. It knocked him off his feet, but he rolled back up on them and swung his arm at her face. The force of his blow sent Sam staggering to the ground. Not letting the pain stop her, she kicked him in the back of the knee. Sam moved away as he stumbled into the pool. Deciding to just end this, he grabbed his zatnikatel and aimed it at Sam. A sudden pain flared in his feet. His shoes held no protection against the larvae's bites. Anger and betrayal filled him as he fell back.

Sam got to her knees. "Iasis, here." The symbiote jumped towards her, and she picked the symbiote up off the floor. Then she ran for the door. She made it before Vorran had a chance to recover, and as she closed the door behind her, she was happy to hear it lock on its own. She looked around and was surprised to find herself in Tok'ra tunnels. "He must have stolen the crystals from them." Sam began heading out, and she discovered that the way through was easy. There was only one way to go, and the only thing in the tunnel was a small room that held a sarcophagus. Sam ignored it as she continued, and she soon reached a dead end. She glanced around before looking to Iasis. "Rings?"

_Squeal._

"Figures. Where did he trigger it?"

The symbiote used it's head to gesture to one of the walls. Sam went to the control. "I'm guessing the control is on him." She remembered watching Martouf do this without a remote, but she didn't remember how it was done. She hadn't had the best view. "Um, well..." She started reaching for the controls. "I don't suppose you know how to do this." She looked to the symbiote, who looked at her. "Do you think Jolinar's ever done this?" She looked back to the control. "And if she did, do you think I can remember it?"

--

The forest didn't seem to have anything. Things grew worse when a familiar sound flew over them. Jacob looked up, and through the trees, he could see what he was looking for. "Death Gliders."

"I'm guessing Bastet lost her patience," Jack replied.

To be continued...


	8. Burns

(Thank you for the reviews.)

Part 8, Burns

"Take cover," Jacob said as he heard the Death Gliders turning around. They hadn't fired at first, but they were firing now. Large balls of fire began shooting through the forest, one hitting near the group. Smoke filled the air, and the plants started burning. The group was forced to spread out, and some lost track of others.

Martouf found himself separated from the group. Ashy air stung his eyes and got caught in his throat. He moved away from a fire before taking cover. Thankfully the ground of this forest wasn't good for supporting a fire. Fires died before they could truly begin. That didn't do much to help the air though. Martouf went to his knees and started coughing up ash.

_Keep coughing_, Lantash thought, who was encouraging his body to do just that. He eased the pain in Martouf's lungs, so his host wouldn't want to stop coughing.

Several minutes pasted before Martouf had no more cough in him. _I don't suppose you saw where the others went._

_Sorry, no._

_We might be able to track them._

Meanwhile, Sam could hear the shooting. She was rushing down the hallway, back to the sarcophagus room. She hoped to find something useful there. She looked over everything before deciding to open the sarcophagus and look in there. There she found the key to the ring transport. She wasn't sure she wanted to be up there, but at the rate the place was shaking, being down here wasn't going to be any safer.

"Ready?"

_Squeal!_

Sam smiled as she activated the rings. She rushed over and was rung up. The area was smoky, but Iasis started directing her to the stargate by pointing with her head. She walked until she found a river, which excited Iasis, who began wiggling. Sam let the symbiote slip into the water. "Stay close," she ordered. She knew Iasis had been allowed in it before, so she hoped it was safe. "Don't get eaten."

She walked along the shore briefly while Iasis followed. Hopefully the stargate wasn't too far ahead. As a Death Glider started passing by she looked to the river. "Take cover," she ordered as moved away from the river. A fireball hit near her, and she felt the impacted force throwing her. The last thing she remembered was hitting her head.

--

_Sque-eal!_

The sound seemed distant at first, and it was the first thing that Sam noticed. The second thing she noticed was that she was in a lot of pain. "Argh."

_Sque-eal!_

Sam found that she couldn't move her arm. It and her side was covered in burns. "Ow."

Iasis was nipping at her leg. _Sque-eal!_

Sam looked around for a moment before finding the symbiote. "I told you to take cover."

_Squeeeal._

Sam slowly got up, feeling dizzy. It was then that she noticed the side of her face was sticky. Putting her good hand to her head, she noticed she was bleeding. Leaning against a tree, she put her hand to her stomach. She checked for signs of injury, worried about her child. "I think she's safe." _I hope she's safe. _She felt a bit sick, and she didn't know if it was from worry, the pregnancy, or being injured.

_Sque-eal?_

"We still need to find the stargate." She headed back to the river. It was safer there for Iasis, and the trees gave it cover from above. They continued on their way to the stargate. She paused when she felt the presence of a symbiote. She looked to Iasis. "Hide." She watched Iasis slip under the water and she followed the symbiote sense. Her eyes widened a bit when she found a burned Tok'ra. Most of his skin was charred and his clothes were burned to his body. She hurried over to him, and it took a few second to recognize him. "Drack?."

"Samantha?" He looked to her with his good eye. The other had gotten too close to fire. "So, you are here."

"What happened?"

"We were fired on and separated." He grimaced. "I ducked behind a tree that was hit."

"Can Kela'an heal you?"

"He's doing his best." Drack winced. "We came looking for you and Vorran. We don't know why he took you." He then looked over her with concern. "Did he do that to you?"

"No, he actually treated me pretty well." She glanced to her burned arm, which wasn't hurting as much as it was when she first woke up. "This was from the Death Gliders."

"Bastet gliders. She-" Drack stopped and suddenly became more alert. He grabbed his zatnikatel. "Someone is coming."

Sam looked around, and she noticed Drack pointing to the river. Then she heard squealing. "Don't shoot her," Sam said.

"Her?" Drack eyes widened as Iasis jumped in front of him.

Sam looked to Iasis. "I told you to hide."

"You give orders to a Goa'uld?" Drack asked, which got him a squealing lecture. He looked to Sam afterwards. "What is she?"

"I think she's a clone."

"That's what Vorran has been up to?"

Iasis pounced on to Drack's lap, which made him jump. Then she made a loud and short squeak.

"What did she say?" Sam asked.

"She said 'twig.'"

Iasis repeated herself several times.

"Twig?" Sam asked.

"That was Kela'an's name before he blended with his first host. Vorran must have told her."

_Chirp!_

A death glider passed by, and they ducked. Sam covered Drack and Iasis. Thankfully the fires never hit near them. Sam looked around afterwards. "Where did Iasis go?"

Iasis squeaked and poked out of what was left of a pocket.

Sam smiled. "Good...now go back in the water."

_Squeal, Sque-eal. _Iasis began jumping to the water.

"That probably is for the best," Drack said. "The water would be safer for her." He smiled a bit. "Do you realize what she said?"

"Well, I understood the yes part."

"And the second part?"

"I don't know." Sam looked over to the river. "She always calls me that."

"She called you mother."

Sam looked to him. "Really?"

Drack grinned. "Congratulations. It's an it."

Sam shook her head. "That's..." Iasis was too important.

Drack gasped in pain.

"What can I do?" Sam looked over the injuries.

"There's nothing you can do." He shook his head, and the look of loss filled his eye.

"What? No. You said Kela'an was healing you."

"I said he'd do his best, but..." Drack shook his head. "I'm too burned." He closed his eye. "Samantha, find the others. Your father and husbands are here. One of them might have sent a signal to the Tok'ra by now. SG-1 is here too."

"What about you?"

"I can't be saved."

"I'm not leaving you here alone to die."

"I have Kela'an."

"And what happens to him when you die?"

"He waits for death." Drack opened his eye. "I'll be waiting on the other side to greet him though." He smiled.

Sam smiled. She didn't often hear the Tok'ra mentioning an afterlife. She settled down a bit more.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting with you."

Drack smiled and closed his eye.

_Drack_, Kela'an thought.

_Yes?_

_I would like you to make a choice. _Kela'an wiggled slightly, not liking the choices he was about to present. _I can concentrate on extending your life as long as possible. However, doing so would leave you in a great deal of pain. The other choice is to concentrate on keeping you from being in pain, but you won't last long._

_What are you doing now?_

_I've been balancing the two, but that's not working well. You are in a lot of pain already, and it's going to get worse._

Drack looked to a bracelet he was wearing. Anise and Freya had given it to them on their wedding day. _Either way, do I have a chance of seeing them again?_

_Only if we are rescued very very soon._

Drack made a nod. _The sooner I die, the sooner you die._

_Don't worry about me._

Drack considered the options. He was more scared than he wanted to admit, but the truth was... _I don't want to suffer._

_I'll make sure you don't then._

--

Malek listened as Kilso went over his scans again. "Anything?"

"Nothing new."

Malek sighed.

"Perhaps you should spend time with Aldwin."

"I don't want to hurt him."

"If you two were going to activate each other, you'd have done it by now."

Malek nodded and left. Guards followed him.

_At least our vision is returning_, Amb thought.

Malek nodded as he dodged a blury Tok'ra. He found Aldwin in his brig. He was granted access, and he knelt down by him. He took Aldwin's hand and wiped away tears that were drying on Aldwin's cheeks. "Aldwin."

"I'm guilty."

"What?"

"I killed a Tok'ra. Murdered him."

Malek felt ill. He hadn't heard that. "Aldwin, the program killed a Tok'ra. It wasn't your fault."

Aldwin pulled his knees in, putting his face into them while hugging his legs. "I don't even remember it. I keep wondering what happened. Did they see me? Did they realize I was a zatarc, or did they think I was a traitor?"

"I don't know." Malek hugged him. "It wasn't your fault though."

"Tell that to Selmak." Aldwin looked to him. "You didn't see the way he looked at me."

"I'm sure he understands."

"He says he does. He's going to look at facts and not blame me, but part of him will. I saw that part in him. How can I expect him not to blame me when I blame myself?"

"Maybe you are seeing blame because you blame yourself."

Aldwin looked away.

"The Tok'ra figured out how to get rid of the first program. They'll figure this one out too."

"Has any other zatarcs been found?"

"So far, it's just us."

Aldwin sniffled. "That's good."

--

It was night, and Sam found herself drifting off to sleep.

"Samantha."

She opened her eyes and looked to Drack. "What is it?"

Drack was rather relaxed. He was, as Kela'an promised, in no pain. "I don't have much time left." He closed his eye. "Use the zatnikatel on me when I die. I don't want the Goa'uld finding me."

Sam figured he'd make that request, but it still bothered her. Doing that right after he died would mean killing Kela'an. "What about Kela'an?"

"Having to sit in your dead host and wait for death is rather torturous for a symbiote," Drack pointed out. "They usually kill themselves when put in that kind of situation."

Sam realized she'd never look at another dead Tok'ra the same way again.

"Will you vaporize me?"

"Yeah," Sam answered as she wished Drack had used another word. "Don't worry. No one will get your body."

"Thank you." He closed his eye.

Sam wanted to help. In the past, she sat there and watched other Tok'ra die, but this was different. She actually knew Kela'an. Not very well. Not like Aldwin or Malek. Not anything like Lantash. Still, she knew and trusted him. She looked to Drack, who was sitting there peacefully, waiting to die. The burns on him indicated he should be in a great deal of pain. Kela'an was clearly saving him from that pain.

"Tell Freya and Anise I love them," Drack added.

That made Sam imagine telling Anise that she sat there while both of her husbands died...or rather to be accurate, that she watched one die and then used a zatnikatel to kill the other. Sam shifted slightly, wincing as she did. "What if Kela'an gives the message himself."

Drack looked to her. "What?"

"I'm volunteering."

"You want to be a Tok'ra?"

"Well, not entirely," Sam admitted. "But what are my options? I want to keep the career I have now. I want to keep going through the stargate and exploring new worlds. It's a career that's been better than I could have hoped for, but..." She gestured to her burns. "I'm going to lose that career either way. The worse these burns get, the less I'll be able to do, and chances are I'll have to retire early or take a desk job.." Neither idea was appealing. "There is a condition though."

"What is it?"

"I'm not willing to give up any family members."

Drack smiled, assuming she was referring to Martouf and Lantash. "He would be leaving one marriage and joining another. He understands that."

"It's more than that."

"Yes?"

Sam placed her hand over her stomach. "I know that the Tok'ra don't make a point to raising children."

Drack glanced down at her. "Your pregnant?" He watched her nod. "Martouf and Lantash never mentioned it."

"They don't know. Vorran figured it out after he captured me."

Drack placed his hand over her stomach. He nodded his head slightly and his eye glowed. Kela'an looked to her. "If we blended, we would share motherhood. My relationship with my host comes before my allegiance to the Tok'ra. I assure you, we will raise the child together with your husbands."

Sam nodded slightly. "All right." She watched Drack given control. "Can I do anything for you? Are you thirsty?"

Drack took her hand. "I am comfortable."

Sam glanced down to his hand after he closed his eye. His hand was burned, and he was really just resting it while she held his. His nerves must have been numbed, and she wondered if he actually felt her hand or he was simply taking comfort in knowing his hand was being held.

Drack sat there for a moment before speaking again. "It is time for me to go to sleep." He looked to Sam. "Please, take care of him."

Sam nodded.

"And let him take care of you."

Sam smiled.

Drack gave a sad smile. _That goes for you too._

_I love you, Drack._

_I love you too._ "Come closer."

A million things buzzed through Sam's mind as she complied. Drack's eye closed, and she soon felt something going in her throat. She gagged slightly as she felt her throat being ripped. As she lost control she felt a heavy loss filling her.

Control was automatic for Kela'an, and the symbiote immediately squeezed Drack's hand. Kela'an choked a sob as she saw just how bad Drack looked. "Drack."

Sam remained calm, though it was very strange. She hoped she'd have control soon.

_Soon_, Kela'an promised as she brushed some of Drack's hair back, knowing he was gone. "Take care, Drack. You'll have to greet me on the other side another day." Then the symbiote retreated.

Sam sat there for a moment. Part of her still couldn't believe what she had done.

To be continued...


	9. The Truth

(Thanks for the reviews. ::grins:: )

Part 9, The Truth

Sam was soon following instructions on what to take from Drack. The zatnikatel was obvious. Then she took a bracelet and a small scanning device. The next was a piece of leather sewn into Drack's clothes. It had "Drack/Kela'an" written on it, and it reminded Sam of military dog tags.

_Anything else? _Sam asked.

_He looks so beautiful. Can I touch him one last time?_

_Yes._

Kela'an took control and caressed Drack's face. Burned or not, she would always see him as beautiful. She wiped away tears before retreating. _The next thing is to ensure he cannot be resurrected in a sarcophagus._

Sam stood up, though not easily due to her own burns. As she pointed the zatnikatel at Drack, she felt Kela'an retreat further. She looked away before firing three times. When she looked back, Drack was gone, and Kela'an was mentally sobbing. She leaned against a tree, resting a bit. She wanted to be able to sleep, but she was afraid to do so.

_You can sleep while I watch over you_, Kela'an thought. _It'll give me time to heal you._

Sam placed her hand over her stomach.

_I won't have to retreat fully. That is only needed for a harsesis. I mostly just make sure I stay out of the way of our child's development._

Sam smiled at the "our." _I want to talk to Iasis before I go to sleep._

_The clone? _Kela'an began accessing Sam's memories to learn about the strange symbiote. _I think... She's Egeria's clone!_

_Only if Vorran told the truth._

_We'll see now._

_What?_

_If she is Egeria's clone, she'll know you blended with me._

Sam arrived at the river. "Iasis?"

"Mother?" For Sam it was a squeak, but Kela'an was now able to translate for her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. Hello Twig. Where is Twig host?"

_Could it be true?_ Kela'an thought, afraid to believe it. It could be a great thing, but it also bothered her. No one should be cloned without consent.

Sam slowly knelt down by the river. "Drack was too... He couldn't be saved."

Iasis went underwater, but she remained near.

"I'm going to rest to give Kela'an time to heal me. I'm going to stay by the river."

Iasis curled.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes." The squeak was muffled by the water.

Sam relaxed.

_I haven't seen any Jaffa_, Kela'an thought, _but we still need to be on the lookout for them. We also need to be careful with the others now. If they sense me, their first conclusion will be that Vorran made you a host._

Sam nodded as she realized Iasis was also at risk."Iasis."

"Yes?"

"I want you to be careful. If you sense one of Egeria's children, only reveal yourself if you have to.

"Why?" Iasis whined.

"They aren't going to know who you are. If you do have to reveal yourself, tell them who you are very quickly. Anyone else, just hide."

"Yes, mother."

Sam nodded before settling. She felt a bit strange to do this.

_I'll watch over you_, Kela'an assured.

Sam nodded again and closed her eyes.

--

The next morning, Sam noticed she felt much better. She checked her arm and side and found no sign of the burns. She checked her head and noticed that the injury was healed and Kela'an had washed the blood away. She grabbed her zatnikatel. _Morning._

_Morning._

She went to the river. _You need to sleep._

_Hmm._

"Iasis, are you awake?"

It took a moment for the larvae to reveal itself. "Yes."

"We need to check on the stargate." She figured the others were around there. "It's not..." She stopped as she sensed another symbiote.

_Hopefully someone we know_, Kela'an thought.

"Hide," Sam whispered, and she saw Iasis disappear. She pulled out her zatnikatel and left the river. She felt the sense getting farther and close, and she knew she was being circled. "Who's there?"

Then the sense seemed to disappear.

_He went closer to the river_, Kela'an thought. _He sensed Iasis, and he's using her sense to mask his own._

Sam aimed her zatnikatel towards the river, but she realized she really had no idea where he was. _Damn._ She felt more out in the open near the river, but now she realized she should have stayed near it. She started heading to the river.

The sense suddenly moved to her side. Sam re-aimed her zatnikatel, but her hand was grabbed. "Lan-" Sam was knocked down by her husband. "Wait. Ow." His grip on her wrists was painful as he pinned her down. She felt a flush of panic as a knife was pulled out. "Lantash, it's me!"

Lantash's eyes flashed, and he looked angrier than Sam had ever seen. "Get out of her!" He aimed the point of the knife to the back of her neck.

Kela'an wiggled uncomfortably. _Keep talking to him. He'll want to take you back to the Tok'ra and save you._

Sam was still worried. She knew Lantash knew she'd rather die than be a host to a Goa'uld. "Lantash, please. Just listen to me." His expression of anger and hatred made her feel worse. "The symbiote you sense is Kela'an. Drack was burned." She felt Kela'an's sorrow at those words. "He couldn't be saved."

Lantash's eyes glowed. "You were talking to a Goa'uld."

Sam knew Iasis was close enough to know what was going on, and she was thankful that the symbiote was staying in the river. "She's not a Goa'uld. Vorran...made her. She's innocent... Check my pockets. I have a couple of Drack's things."

Lantash put the knife away and checked her pockets. He pulled out the bracelet and tag. "This could simply mean that you killed Drack and Kela'an and stole from them." His grip on her didn't lesson, and he pocketed the items.

Sam knew she needed to keep explaining. "Yesterday a Death Glider shot near me. I was knocked out. When I woke up I realized I was burned. The same happened with Drack, but he...his burns were worse."

A flicker of pain crossed Lantash's eyes.

_His last host died due to burns_, Kela'an thought. She knew the story reminded Lantash of the incident.

"I know you're probably thinking I would never be a Tok'ra because of many reasons, and you know one of them is my career. With those burns, my career would have been over."

"Where were you burned?"

"My left arm and side."

Lantash got up slightly and rolled her over on her stomach. Sam cooperated. _What is he doing?_

_I have no idea_, Kela'an thought.

Then she felt a odd sensation on her left arm. It took her a second to realize it was a healing device.

_Oh_, Kela'an thought when realizing what Lantash had. _He's probably checking you for signs of recent healing._

Lantash was doing just that.

_She has been healed_, Martouf thought.

_It could mean she's telling the truth_, Lantash thought. _It could also mean she was tortured beforehand. _As he ran a scan over her side, he realized there was something unexpected.

_She's pregnant?! _Martouf thought.

Lantash used the healing device to check to be sure. _She is. _

Martouf felt worried. _How old is it? _

_Three weeks._

The worry disappeared, and Martouf was thrilled with this news. _We're fathers!_

"I have been trying to reach the stargate," Sam continued. "I've been delayed. Until I found Drack, I didn't know anyone else was on the planet. I left Vorran locked in a room. He created his own tunnels...well, tunnel." She felt her arms being moved, and her hands were tied.

Lantash was quiet for a moment. "If you are Samantha, then...then I'm sorry for this. If you are not...Samantha, I'm still sorry." Lantash stood and helped her get up. He wanted to believe her. His instincts were telling him that it was her, but he'd never forgive himself if he was wrong.

"I realize Vorran would have access to all of my memories, but there must be something that you and Kela'an know that he doesn't."

Lantash considered this. The problem was he shared everything with Jolinar, and as much as it sickened him to think about it, Vorran would have access to her memories too. He mentally went through various stories before finding one he never shared with anyone. "When we were growing up, we were exploring our lake when we found a plant growing by the side. Jalen came by and wanted to see how it tasted. What was the plant?"

_Aw, larvae memories_, Kela'an thought before giving Sam the answer.

"It was you and Jalen exploring. Kela'an was the one who found you later and tasted the plant. It was a flower you called raindrops. You called it that because you discovered the flower when one of the petals fell, and since you were at the water's surface, it landed on you." She watched Lantash's expression change from anger to worry. "The real name of the flower is fresh shore, because it always grows by fresh water." Sam smiled. "I knew that was your favorite flower, but I never knew why."

Lantash caressed her cheek. "Samantha?"

"I told you it was me."

Lantash pulled her into a hug, trembling slightly as he held her close. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You did exactly what I would have wanted you to do if I had been taken over."

He pulled away slightly and kissed her. Then he nodded his head, and Martouf was given control. Martouf pulled her back into a hug. "We love you."

Sam closed her eyes, wishing she could hug him back. She let him enjoy the hug for a moment before asking, "Can you untie me?"

"Oh." He moved around her and cut away the rope. He rubbed her wrists. "How do you feel?" He touched the back of her neck.

"It's a bit strange."

"I remember how strange it was when I first blended with Lantash. He spent the first few hours repeatedly telling me that he wasn't a god."

_Uck_, Lantash thought. The memory made him uncomfortable.

He circled back to the front of her. "I know where the others are. The stargate is blocked with an incoming wormhole. I went out to look for Drack." His expression saddened. "I'm sorry to hear of his death." He waited a moment before touching a hand over her stomach. He smiled. "We're going to be parents." His expression grew more excited, and he then picked her up and twirled her.

Sam laughed as he spun. When she was set down, she hugged him. "I sort of already am." She looked to the river. "Martouf, we need to keep the symbiote safe. She's innocent, and she may be important. Promise me, you'll keep her safe."

"You adopted a symbiote?"

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Iasis."

Iasis came to the surface of the river. "Yes?"

"Iasis, this is-"

"Shadow!"

Lantash took over, and he was surprised to hear his old name. "Hello." He really had no idea what to think of this. Sam's story without the symbiote made more sense. The symbiote was just odd.

"Hello Shadow," Iasis squealed.

Lantash looked to her, then to Sam. "She's a larvae."

"Yes."

_Too young to be a threat_, Martouf thought.

"Why did Vorran want a larvae?"

"I queen." Iasis answered.

Lantash knelt down and looked at the symbiote. Though queens and regular symbiotes looked very similar at a young age, he could still see that she was a queen. Sam explained,"He wanted to control a queen. More specifically, he wanted to control her offspring."

"My children will never be under his control," Iasis squealed. "He murderer."

Sam felt worried. "You've seen him kill." She hoped not.

"I feel it."

Sam knelt down. "Feel it? How."

"His host has two senses, like you. He calls himself by the weak sense."

Martouf felt sick. "He's not Vorran." He closed his eyes. "Lordon."

"Lordon?"

"He's the host." Martouf stood. "The Goa'uld must have been using Lordon and Vorran's memories to pretend he was them." He shook his head and his eyes turned angry. "That's disgusting!"

"I think it gets worse."

That idea seemed to bewilder Martouf. "How could it get worse?"

"I think he's still one of Egeria's children."

"He is," Iasis confirmed.

Martouf's expression showed the horror he felt. "Who is he?"

"The first born of the third set of children."

"Who is that?" Sam asked, looking to Martouf. He had a look of recognition and disbelief.

"Cordesh."

to be continued...


	10. Reunited

(Thank you Roeskva and Cocoa Girl for the reviews. I'm sorry about the delays. My story is taking longer than I thought it would.)

Part 10, Reunited

"He should be back by now."

Selmak sighed, wishing Jack would calm down. "Martouf will return when he returns. Relax. We cannot leave yet anyway."

_Perhaps it would be better if I was in control._

Selmak nodded and gave Jacob control. "Jack-" Jacob stopped when he felt multiple symbiotes coming towards them. He pulled out his zatnikatel while Teal'c brought up his staff weapon. Jack and Daniel followed suit, raising their guns.

"Don't shoot us," Martouf said as he approached. He was holding a symbiote that promptly jumped out of his hand and into his pocket. He smiled as he looked down. Lantash didn't trust it, but Martouf was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. It hadn't done anything aggressive. "Do you think my pocket is going to save you?"

Jack frowned as he watched the symbiote peak out and squeak at Martouf. "What is that thing?"

"A symbiote, Jack," Jacob replied.

"I know that! Why does-" Then he saw Sam approach. "Sam!" He started approaching, but Jacob stopped him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Jack realized that Jacob and Teal'c were both pointing weapons at his Sam. There had to be a reason, so he didn't argue.

"Dad," Sam took a step forward. "You're sensing Kela'an. Drack was killed by one of the death gliders."

"What?!" Jack alarmed. He hoped he heard wrong. He didn't want to believe Sam just became a Tok'ra.

"Sir..." Sam wasn't sure what to say besides that.

Daniel put his gun down. "Sam, are you all right?"

She nodded.

Jacob relaxed a little. Lantash trusted her story, and he knew Lantash would have made sure it was her. Still... "Why do you two have a symbiote?"

"Vorran..."

Iasis chirped a loud no.

Sam winced softly, realizing her mistake. "The symbiote who captured me said he cloned her from a Tok'ra. She's just a larvae."

Martouf looked to Sam. She hadn't mentioned that bit of news to him. His eyes widened as he realized who it might be.

_Could it be true? _Lantash thought, both angry and hopeful at the idea. If it was true, then by being unwilling cloned, his queen was violated. No question about that. The Tok'ra would have never done this for that reason. However, if it was true, then they weren't just saving the life of a innocent symbiote, they were helping to give the Tok'ra a second chance.

Martouf felt the same mix of emotions, and he knew that's probably why Sam hadn't said anything. It was best to be sure first.

Sam moved closer to her dad. "You can scan me all your want when we get back to the Tok'ra Base."

Jacob nodded. He would be sure to do that. "Where's Vorran?" He received the same loud chirp from Iasis.

"Why does she keep doing that?" Jack asked.

"She said no," Jacob replied.

"That was a word?"

"Well, if you want to get technical, it was a negative response rather than the actual word, no. It could have several meanings, such as negative, bad, none, I disagree-"

"So basically, no."

"Basically."

"He's not Vorran," Sam said.

"What?"

"According to Iasis." She pointed to the symbiote. "She said he's Cordesh."

"How is that possible?" Jacob asked as he heard Selmak alarm.

"We might be able to find out," Martouf replied. "Sam left him locked in a tunnel underground. He may still be there, but the tunnel may have collasped."

"Where?"

"It's actually not that far from here," Sam said as she started leading the way. The rest followed her.

_I hope we are being lead into a trap_, Selmak thought.

_Martouf would have had to have been stolen then._

_Which isn't possible? _Selmak replied with a slight sarcastic tone.

_Well, I'm hoping he wasn't. It's better than sitting here and doing nothing._

Jack followed them, though he wasn't fond of this idea. He wanted to talk to Sam alone, and now thanks to Kela'an, that wouldn't be possible. He wondered if he could tell the symbiote to go to sleep and then talk to her.

Sam pulled out the ring key when they arrived. "It's here."

Jacob grabbed the key. "I'll go first."

"No," Jack replied, not liking that idea at all.

"Jack, we don't know of the tunnel is collapsed. If it is, then whoever rings down can be injured or killed."

"Isn't there some sort of safety device to prevent it from ringing when it can get you killed?"

"Yes, but it doesn't always work." Jacob went to the middle of the rings and pulled out his zatniktael. "I'll be back if...well, if I can come back."

Sam felt her heart beat faster as she watched her dad ring down. _Come back. Come back._

Jacob returned. "It's clear."

Sam smiled and hugged her dad. She felt him tense slightly.

_He's still not entirely sure it's you_, Kela'an thought.

As everyone moved in, Iasis stayed ducked in Martouf's pocket. Jacob reactivated the rings. Most were surprised to find Tok'ra tunnels. It wasn't long before they found the sarcophagus room. They checked around it a bit before continuing. Then they found the still locked room. It didn't take long for Jacob to figure out how to unlock it.

Everyone came in with raised weapons. Cordesh raised his weapon, but cursed when he realized he was outnumbered. Lantash moved closer, keeping his weapon trained on him. His eyes flared. "Cordesh."

"What? How...?" He stopped when he noticed movement in his pocket. "Hak'Kal'ma."

Iasis squeaked in fear.

"Leave her out of this," Lantash ordered.

"She's my daughter."

"She picked a new parent." Lantash flared his eyes. "How are you alive?"

"I had help."

"You'll be removed from your host."

"You can't save him. He went insane years ago."

"Yet, you'll still be removed." Lantash shot him. As he began tying him up, Iasis went into her pool.

Jack looked to the symbiote. "What if she decides she wants a host," he asked in a concerned tone.

The first response was a violent shrieking in forms of squeaks and chirps. Lantash smiled a bit as he looked from Iasis to Jack. "She's too young."

"I've seen larva Goa'uld take hosts."

"She's still too young. She's only about a week old."

Jack watched the symbiote violently swim around, still squealing. "Why is she doing that?"

"You offended her."

"Shouldn't the clone of a Tok'ra be more...mature." Swimming around violently seemed childish.

Sam smiled to that. "Sir, she may have many of the Tok'ra's memories, but she's still a child. I figured that out early on. She's very prone to having temper tantrums.

"I thought symbiotes were already mature," Jack replied, "because of the memories."

Lantash and Jacob looked at each other before replying with "No."

"They mature faster for it," Jacob continued, "but they don't start out mature."

Lantash frowned as he finished tying up Cordesh. "What happened to his finger?"

"Iasis didn't want to be petted," Sam explained.

Curious, Jack went around to see the hand. He was surprised to find a missing pinkie. "Ouch."

"We need to go back to the stargate and watch it," Jacob said. "As soon as he wakes up... Lantash be careful."

Lantash looked annoyed by the comment.

"This is the second time he's stolen a host."

_I agree with Jacob_, Martouf thought. _I don't want to feel you being crushed to death._

_I am being careful. I wouldn't risk you being taken over. I'd rather die._

_That's the problem. You'd die as I was taken over, and I would feel the whole thing._

_I'm not going to let that happen to you. _Lantash nudged Cordesh until he woke up. Then he forced him on his feet. "Up."

Sam picked up Iasis and followed them out. She noticed she was still being monitored by the others. _At least I know __I__ am me._

Jack looked around when they rang up. "Shouldn't Bastet have sent Jaffa by now." They hadn't seen one.

"She might not have wanted to make the effort," Jacob replied. "As far as she knew, she was only dealing with Cordesh. I guarantee you, she'd have sent Jaffa is she knew more Tok'ra were here. Hopefully she was more interested in scaring Cordesh than making a kill." Jacob looked to Cordesh. "You want to enlighten us?"

"If I knew she was going to attack, I wouldn't have been here in the first place." Cordesh glared.

As they arrived at the edge of the forest, they noticed the stargate was free. Jacob hurried over, fearing Bastet planned on dialing in again. He dialed out and waited for the others. "Let's go."

Sam felt nervous as she walked through. Every Tok'ra she passed by would know she blended. If they didn't know who was on the mission, they'd wonder who'd die. They'd also take notice of Iasis, and she didn't know how they'd respond to her.

Nothing happened as they walked across the surface to the rings. As they rang down, she heard Kela'an wonder where Freya and Anise were. Guards approached quickly, though they only paid attention to Cordesh.

"We need a scanner," Jacob said.

They grabbed Cordesh and took him away without a word.

"He'll be questioned," Lantash said. "The zatarc detector will be used to determine if he is telling the truth."

"If he doesn't?" Jack asked.

"Normally a Goa'uld would continued to be questioned, but Garshaw may order him to be removed from the host before all the questions are answered."

One of the guards returned with a scanner and gave it to Jacob. He then walked off again. Jacob immediately began scanning Sam. "You are Sam," he said with a grin. He hugged her.

Sam hugged her head. "Yes, it's me." She was glad he didn't do a complete scan. She felt cheated already in not being able to tell Martouf and Lantash about her pregnancy. At least she could tell the others.

"Good to know it's you," Jack said. Though he was relieved, he had a we-need-to-talk expression.

Daniel gave Sam a hug, while Teal'c gave a nod. They had figured it was her if Lantash said it was her, but they both felt better having it confirmed.

Kela'an made a mental curse, and Sam quickly realized why. Anise was approaching. _I didn't want her to find out by sensing me in you. It's too abrupt._

"Dad?" Sam gestured.

Jacob made a nod and headed to Anise.

_She knows something is up_, Kela'an thought as he watched Anise look over the group for him and Drack. As her attention went to Jacob, Kela'an could see her fear.

Selmak took over to deliver the news. "Anise."

"Where is Drack?" she demanded.

"Bastet sent death gliders to the planet." Selmak saw Anise already starting to shake her head. "I'm sorry. Drack was-"

"No, no." She continued shaking her head. She turned away and her body began quivering. "Did you see it?"

"No. He was separated from the group."

"Then how do you know what h-happened?"

"Sam found him. She stayed with him."

Anise hugged herself. "I'll thank her."

The next moment seemed to last forever for Kela'an. _Can I talk to her?_

_Yes_, Sam answered. She felt herself retreat.

Kela'an gave Iasis to Martouf before stepping closer. She waited for Selmak to continue.

"Anise..." Selmak wasn't entirely sure how to put this. "Kela'an survived."

Kela'an watched as Anise turned back to Selmak. "What?" There was a small amount of disbelief in her voice, but then she noticed Sam. When realization filled her eyes, Kela'an moved to her. "Kela'an?" Then she went to her knees and started crying.

Kela'an moved down and pulled her into a hug.

Daniel watched from where he was. He wished he could help, but he'd feel as though he was intruding. It was awkward that of all Tok'ra, Kela'an was the one Sam ended up blended with. He wasn't alone in how he felt. Sam felt as though she was intruding. Getting a close up view of a husband holding his crying wife wasn't something she should be there for. Even worse, she felt Kela'an's emotions. The love. The need to protect them. The feeling of failure.

"Did he suffer?" Anise asked.

"In the end, I made sure he was in no pain," Kela'an answered. He caressed her cheek. "Is Freya...?

"She's trying to hide. She won't even talk to me."

"I understand.... I know being around me will be too much right now, but let others help you."

"We can't even think of that right now."

"I know..." Kela'an wanted to help, but she knew that she really couldn't do anything. She took her hand. "I love you."

She nodded. "I love you too." She looked down before getting up. She quietly walked away.

Kela'an gave Sam control as she heard Lantash approaching. Lantash knelt down and hugged Sam. Sam hugged him. "I felt like I was invading."

"You weren't," Lantash said as Kela'an thought the same thing. He gave her a gentle kiss. "Sharing moments is part of being a Tok'ra. It's awkward when you're a new host, but the moments belong to you as much as they belong to the others." He helped her up.

"How does this affect our marriage?" She hadn't actually thought of that until now.

"Each of you is still married."

_Not for long_, Kela'an thought. _When a host dies, the marriage isn't automatically ended. It gives a chance for the survivors to mourn. The marriage is then continued and the new host enters the marriage. However, in some situations, it's quite clear the marriage cannot continue. This is the case here._

_I have to get used to this._

_I'll help you, and you also have your father and husbands._

Sam glanced down and saw Iasis looking at her. She pet the symbiote. "We need to get her into water."

Lantash nodded. "We'll take her to the infirmary."

Selmak followed. They found Kilso on duty. "Where's Garshaw?" she asked as Lantash went looking for a tank.

"She left."

"Who's in charge?"

"Delek."

Jacob cursed.

_We'll tolerate him. He probably won't come visit us anyway, and why does your daughter look annoyed._

Jacob took control. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"He's not taking her away."

"What."

"Iasis." Sam knew how Delek thought about Jacob. She imagined what his response to the truth about Iasis would be. "I took care of her. I named her. I comforted her. I helped her learn English. He's not taking her away from me."

Jack thought this was odd. "Sam, she's a symbiote. Let the Tok'ra take care of her."

Daniel smiled a bit. "Um, Jack, she is Tok'ra."

"I meant the other Tok'ra."

Jacob saw Jack's point here. He wasn't expecting his daughter to have this response to a larvae. There was also a wonderment as to why she thought Delek would be interested in the symbiote. "Sam, he's probably not going to care about her." He watched Lantash return with a tank full of water.

Sam put Iasis in the water as she tried to calm herself. Kela'an pain was her pain, and now she worried about Delek finding a way to make sure she never saw Iasis again.

"Why do we have a symbiote?" Kilso asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Jacob admitted. "She might be a clone."

Kilso began running scans on her. Then his eyes widened after checking the scans. Then he ran more scans and checked them again.

"Is she healthy?" Jacob asked. He frowned when he didn't get a response. "Kilso."

Kilso glanced over. "I'm scanning her."

"You scanned her several times. They aren't going to change."

Kilso turned to him. "Do you realize who she is?"

"She's not a clone?"

"Oh, she's a clone." Kilso said with a smile. "She's definitely a clone. There is no doubt about that. The clone of a Tok'ra."

_Crystals! _Kela'an thought in excitement. _Cordesh was telling the truth._

Sam felt her symbiote wiggling in her head. It was a rather strange feeling.

"Okay," Jacob replied, wondering why Kilso was making a huge point about the symbiote being a clone.

"You didn't get a good look at her, did you?" Kilso asked.

"No."

Kilso gestured.

Jacob frowned and approached the tank. He watched the symbiote swim closer to greet him. It took a few seconds, but he noticed certain distinctive features on her. "She's a queen."

_This is impossible_, Selmak thought.

Jacob looked to Kilso. "You mean?"

"She's Egeria's clone."

to be continued...


	11. The Kiron Connection

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(Thank you for the reviews. Sorry this took so long.)

Part 11, The Kiron Connection

Sam noticed the completely look of shock on her father. "Cordesh wanted to rule her, and in the process, rule any offspring she created. He never planned on the Tok'ra finding out about her."

Jacob looked to her. "You knew?"

"He told me, but I didn't know if he was lying or not." She looked to Iasis. "What is Delek going to do with her?"

_He's not going to want Sam to take care of her_, Selmak thought.

_It won't be his choice alone. The last I checked, you are also on the council._

_Yes, and while my influence had diminished, his has grown stronger._

Jacob sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen. Right now her safety is a priority. The council will have to figure out who takes care of her."

Sam shook her head and turned away.

"I have to talk to Delek." He walked away.

Sam watched Daniel approach the tank. "Wow," he said. "Egeria's... Wow."

"My thoughts exactly," Kilso replied. "I couldn't believe it. I kept scanning her, thinking I made a mistake, but...I didn't." He smiled. "Someone is going to have to tell Malek he's not the youngest anymore."

"I don't think he'll mind," Sam replied. "By the way, where is Malek?" The answer quickly came from Kela'an. "He's a zartarc?!"

"So is Aldwin," Lantash informed.

Sam gave of look of horror and disgust. "When did this happen?" Again, she was quickly told by Kela'an. She shook her head. "They are alive, at least, right?"

"They are alive." Kilso nodded. "Angry, upset...but alive. So far they are the only zartarcs we found. "I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of the program. If I can, they'll be fine."

"I wouldn't say fine," Lantash argued. He shook his head, then noticed Delek and Selmak coming in.

Delek looked to the tank. "Are you certain of who she is?"

"I am," Kilso replied as he stepped closer.

"Run another scan and figure out all you can about her. Make sure she's not a zartarc." He ignored Iasis as she squeaked confusion. "Have Kela'an contact the rest of the council." He looked around. "Where is Kela'an?" With all the Tok'ra in the room, he didn't notice Sam was blended.

"Drack was killed," Lantash informed as he put hand on Sam's arm. "Samantha is Kela'an's host now."

Delek showed his surprise, but he didn't say anything. "I'll have someone else send for them then." Not noticing that Iasis was trying to get his attention, he walked away.

Knowing what Iasis wanted, Sam went to pet Iasis while Kilso began running more scans on the larvae. Sam found herself hoping he wasn't the only one working on Malek and Aldwin. "Can I see Malek and Aldwin?"

"Yes," Jacob replied.

"Is that a good idea?" Jack asked. "What if she activates them?"

"They need to be alone with their targets." He gestured to Sam. She and the others followed. Jacob continued, "From what we've seen, the program has sort of a starter stage. It gets ready to activate and the victim starts subconsciously wringing their hands."

They arrived at the holding area. "It might be best to approach alone." Lantash said. "Jacob and I realized we both set off the starter stage." He noticed the worry Jack held. "She'll be safe."

Sam found Aldwin and Malek in the same brig together. Guards were just outside, though out of view. She approached the forcefield.

"Samantha," Malek said as he stood. He smiled. "You're safe." He started rubbing his hands.

Sam noticed Aldwin doing the same thing, and she wondered why.

_Odd. I didn't activate them before_, Kela'an thought.

Malek approached the forcefield, and it was then that he noticed the new sense. "You blended." He looked sad. "Who?"

"Kela'an."

Malek looked down, and it was then that he noticed his hands. He stopped them and looked to Sam.

"It seems I activate you," Sam said. She glanced to Aldwin. "I should go." She worried what her presence would do to them.

"We are glad you are safe."

"I hope you stay safe." Sam gave a small smile before leaving. She found the others and let her father know.

"Odd." He frowned. "Hmm."

"What?"

"There seems to be a pattern." Jacob looked to Martouf. "The only people who have activated the program have something to do with Kiron."

"Kiron?" Jack questioned.

"That's my planet...and my people," Martouf answered.

Jack looked to Jacob. "What do you have to do with the Kiron?"

"Selmak was married to one." Jacob frowned.

"So the program could be set to attack anyone who is Kiron," Daniel stated as he went over the information.

"Sam's not Kiron." Jack replied. "She's just married to one."

"Well, she's not, but by most older traditions when a man and woman marry, she becomes part of his culture."

"That's how it is for Gete's people," Jacob agreed. "Not Amb's people, but Malek believes that when two people marry, they becomes part of each other's culture."

"So, if both of them think that, even subconsciously, it could be enough for the program to include Sam and Selmak," Daniel concluded.

Martouf didn't like where this was going, and he frowned. "The only one with a reason to attack my people would be Bastet, but she didn't know any Kiron were still alive until after Tur was killed. She couldn't have been the one who made the program."

"There is someone else to question," Jacob said before leaving.

Jack looked to Martouf. "Maybe you should warn your people."

Martouf glanced down. "There is no one else to warn." He saw Jack frown. "Bastet massacred my people when our naquadah mines ran dry. Four of us survived, thanks to the Tok'ra, but the other three are gone now."

Jack's frown worried, and he found himself wishing he hadn't said anything. "I'm sorry."

"Your not last anymore," Sam said, and then she realized she shouldn't have said that in front of the others. She hadn't wanted to tell them that way. However, Martouf's smile made it worth it. Sam looked to the others, who looked confused. "I'm pregnant."

Daniel smiled. "Congratulations." He hugged Sam.

Teal'c gave a hint of a smile. "The child will be strong."

Jack was surprised. "Is that why you become a Tok'ra?"

"No, sir." She sighed softly. "Drack wasn't the only one injured by a Death Glider. I was just luckier than him."

Jack felt concern then. He didn't realize she had been burned. "Are you all right now?"

"Yes, sir. I'm fine." She glanced down the hallway her father left. "I need to tell my dad about his new granddaughter before he finds out from someone else."

"What is he doing?" Daniel asked.

"I am not entirely sure," Martouf answered, "but I'm guessing I really wouldn't want to be Cordesh right now."

He was right in guessing where Jacob had headed off to. Jacob entered the room where Cordesh was being questioned. Selmak took over and moved in front of the zatarc machine, practically shoving Korra aside. "Cordesh."

"What do you want?" Cordesh asked, annoyed.

"Have you ever programed anyone to be a zartarc?"

Cordesh cursed.

"Answer the question. Did you ever program anyone to be a zatarc?"

"Yes."

"Did you program Aldwin?"

"Yes." He figured there was no point in lying.

"Why?" Selmak demanded.

Cordesh was quiet.

"Answer me, now."

"Tur began suspecting me. I had the program made with instructions to have it activate whenever it was alone with a Kiron. I figured that would eliminate Tur and anyone who might be suspicious as to why he was killed."

"How do we destroy the program?"

"You cannot destroy it."

"Can it be destroyed?"

"It can only destroy itself...and it will only do so after every Kiron has been killed." Cordesh grinned. "Have fun."

Selmak sighed. At least now she knew why Tur was killed. She wished he had said something to her about his suspicions. She looked to Korra. "Have you figured out why he is alive?"

"Not yet," Korra answered as he looked behind Selmak.

Someone had come in. Selmak looked over to see Garshaw and Delek.

"Going to try to have me killed again?" Cordesh asked as he looked to Garshaw. "You aren't very good at it."

Garshaw stepped closer and looked to Selmak. "I have an idea of how he survived."

"How?"

"Vorran and Shorvek were the two Tok'ra whom I ordered to execute him." She looked to Cordesh. "I'm guessing Shorvek helped him to escape."

Cordesh smiled.

"How did you get him to help you?"

"Shorvek was weak. A short time in the sarcophagus was enough to make him controllable...rude and arrogant as well, but controllable."

"You used his addiction to the sarcophagus against him."

"I demanded his help, so he shot Vorran and left. I decided it was a good time to switch hosts..." He gestured down himself. "...clearly."

"What did you do to Shorvek?"

"I did nothing to him. He allowed his host to weaken him. When they realized what I had done, they couldn't live with themselves. A few days later I found them at the bottom of a cavern...not exactly how I'd chose to die." He gave a slight shrug. "I destroyed their bodies along with their little confessional note."

Garshaw was quiet several minutes. Finally, she turned to Delek. "Removed him from his host, and this time, make sure he doesn't escape."

"He should be further questioned."

"We learned what we needed to know. For the rest, we'll hope we can get from the host."

"Lordon may not-"

"He is suffering!" Garshaw's eyes flared. "This is not for debate. Make sure he is removed now." She walked away.

Figuring Delek would call in more security, Selmak chose to follow Garshaw. Delek, however, didn't quite do that. "Korra, get the security guards from the evening team."

"I believe-"

"Now!"

Korra headed out. _This is a bad idea. _He knew Delek asking for specific people was a way of stalling.

_The faster we follow orders, the faster Lordon will be saved_, his symbiote thought.

Delek moved closer to Cordesh. "Now, tell me who-" Suddenly he saw Cordesh coming at him. Delek managed to take a step back before he was knocked to the floor. Worried about his host being taken over, he scrambled away. Cordesh was quick, grabbing a piece of equipment to use as a weapon. One good hit knocked out the councilman. Then he made his way out of the room.

--

Delek woke up a headache, and given that he was surprised he woke up at all, he was thankful for the headache. He soon heard his host quietly thinking that sending away the only security guy was very stupid. _I realize that_, Delek thought before getting up. He saw Korra returning with security. "He escaped."

Though Korra didn't say anything, the look of anger on his expression was quite clear. He quickly began giving orders. As he watched them spread out, Delek found himself wondering how he was going to explain this to Garshaw.

To be continued...


	12. Hurton's Payment

(Thank you for the reviews.)

Part 12, Hurton's Payment

Meanwhile, Kilso was running some final scans on Iasis. "You appear to be healthy."

Iasis squealed, "Of course."

"No extra programs running in your head."

"Eh?"

"Never mind." He glanced to the doorway as he noticed someone coming in. "Sam."

"I came to check on her."

"She's healthy." Kilso looked to her. "I should also check on you."

_I can take care of you myself. Tell him I said you are healthy_, Kela'an thought.

Sam smiled. "Kela'an says I'm healthy."

"Well, Kela'an is being stubborn. She knows I like to check every new host. Now sit down. I'll be back in a moment."

_I have to sit_, Sam said as she sat down. She closed her eyes, and soon heard someone rushing at her. She opened her eyes, jumping slightly when she realized it was Cordesh.

He grabbed her arm as she was about to go for a weapon. "Sorry, but you are in the way," he said before throwing her into the wall.

The sound of her head hitting the crystal wall was so hard that Sam was almost surprised that something didn't break. The world spun as she saw Cordesh heading to Iasis. "No." She tried getting up, but her legs didn't go where she wanted them to, and she fell again. "Kela'an." She felt as though her heart went to her throat when she realized the symbiote was quiet.

A second later she realized Cordesh and Kilso were fighting, and she didn't remember Kilso coming into the room. "Iasis," she muttered, trying to call the symbiote's name out.

"No! No! No!" It was Kilso's host, pinned down, shaking his head, and crying. Sam felt bad as she realized she didn't know the guy's name. Sam grabbed her knife, really wishing she had a gun. She managed to stand up as she heard a scream being cut off with the sound of gagging. She knew Cordesh had switched hosts.

Still dizzy, she took a step back and found herself thankful to have a wall behind her. "Cordesh." His new host still had steaks of tears down his cheeks.

He headed to Iasis tank.

"No!" Sam quickly stumbled over to the tank and held her knife out.

Deciding the delay wasn't worth it, Cordesh took off.

Dizzy, Sam went to her knees. She was thankful she held enough strength to stay standing until he was out of the room. She jumped when she realized someone was near her, and her blade instinctively went to that person's direction. Her hand was caught.

"Samantha, it's me."

Sam focused and realized it was Lantash. She felt herself being leaned against the stand the tank was on, and she saw Lantash check on Lordon. "He killed Kilso."

Lantash looked to her in concern. "Hurton?"

Something told her that was the host's name. "He took him."

Lantash grabbed healing device while calling for Korra. He knew Korra had been near, and he hoped the man still was.

Korra entered the room.

Lantash looked up to Korra as he knelt by Sam. "He's taken Hurton."

Korra made a nod before leaving.

Sam felt the dizziness start dissolving. "Kela'an?"

"It looks like she was knocked unconscious. She'll be fine though."

Sam nodded, feeling relieved. She had promised Drack she'd take care of Kela'an, and she couldn't break that promise. "Why is he now a she?" She noticed even Kela'an now called herself a her.

"Kela'an has always taken the gender of the host."

"I should have helped more." The image of Hurton's struggle was strong in her mind.

"With your injury, I'm surprised you stayed conscious."

Samantha stood up, and she was thankful that he helped her. "Iasis?"

_Squeak?_

"Are you all right?"

She made a long squeal, which prompted Sam to look to Lantash and asked what she said.

"She blames herself because Hurton came into the room to defend her." Lantash looked to the tank. "It's not your fault."

"He's right," Sam said.

Iasis went into a corner and curled into a ball.

"She needs time," Lantash said.

Sam nodded. "They could probably use your help."

"Not while you still have a head injury. I did what I could with the healing device. The rest is up to you and Kela'an."

Sam put her hand in the tank and picked up Iasis. She lifted the symbiote out and held her close. "We'll make sure she is safe then."

--

Later, Korra was walking into the council room to give his report. He heard them talking among each other.

"I didn't disobey your orders," Delek defended. "I sent Korra to get security."

"After which, Cordesh happened to be able to free himself." Garshaw replied.

"He wasn't secured very well. You should question Korra about that."

Korra shot a glare in Cordesh's direction, angry that the councilman was putting this on him.

"You'll both be questioned." Garshaw said as she looked to Korra. _Bad news_, she thought, knowing it from Korra's expression. "What is it?"

"He has escaped."

"How?"

"He killed Kilso and took Hurton as his host."

"What guards were with them?"

Korra knew she'd not like his answer. "No one."

"Why?"

"Samantha was with them." Korra saw Selmak's expression turn to worry.

"Is she all right?" Selmak asked, cutting off whatever Garshaw was going to say.

"I believe she hit her head."

Selmak left the room to check on her.

Garshaw continued with what she was going to say. "Samantha is not in security. Why was Iasis not better guarded, and why is it that we have another stolen host?" She looked from Korra to Delek. "Hurton is suffering now, and _both_ of you are to blame." Her eyes flared as she looked back to Korra. "Lordon?"

"He's dead."

She looked to Delek. "His death is your fault."

_At least he's not suffering anymore_, Yosuuf thought, knowing he'd have preferred death at this point.

Garshaw sighed softly, looking at the table before hearing Delek say, "We need to decide who will take care of the new queen. We should go through a list of Tok'ra and select the best caregivers for her."

Thoran looked up from medical reports he had been reading about Iasis. "Would that be the best option?"

"She is a chance we never thought we would have. We cannot risk anything happening to her, and we need to ensure she is properly raised," Ren'al replied, agreeing with Delek.

"Should we not be waiting for Selmak's return?" Per'sus asked. He smiled when he saw Thoran look to where Selmak was, his expression showing he hadn't realized Selmak left.

Delek frowned. "I believe..." He trailed off when he noticed Korra still there. "Was there anything else?"

Korra left. He headed back to the infirmary, where he found Lantash, Jacob, Sam, and Iasis. Lantash looked over to him. "How was your report?"

"I'm to be questioned," Korra replied as he walked into the room. "Garshaw was right. I should have already had security here."

Jacob glanced to Korra, but he didn't say anything. He was more concerned for Sam, who was leaning against the base of the tank.

_She'll be fine_, Selmak thought. _She has Kela'an to help her._

_Kela'an is unconscious._

_You scanned her yourself. She's about to wake up._

Lantash looked down to Iasis, who was in her tank. "What is going to happen to Iasis?"

"I don't know," Jacob answered.

"You might want to return to the council room," Korra said. "They seemed ready to discuss that."

"It's nice to know you are ready to tell everyone what we are discussing," said Delek's voice at the doorway.

Korra winced, and he was glad he was facing away from the door.

Garshaw stepped in. "Since Iasis was brought up, I thought we should all meet her. We have not yet had the chance." Actually seeing the symbiote seemed to make it reality. "She's...real." She wanted to cry.

_Want me to take control?_ Yosuuf offered.

Garshaw smiled. _I can handle my emotions, but thank you. _"Iasis." _Besides, this would be a happy cry._

Lantash watched in amusement as he saw their reactions. Each member of the high council was filled with emotion. They were amazed, joyful, and in disbelief.

Per'sus touched the side of the tank. "Are we certain of who she is."

"Yes," Iasis squeaked. "People need to stop asking that."

"Why is she called Iasis?"

"My mother named me," Iasis replied.

Delek frowned, thinking Iasis was referring to Egeria. "Your mother is dead."

Iasis squeaked so loud, that it made Delek jump back. "LIAR!!" She swam around in a circle, looking for her mother. Not seeing her, she used her sense to locate her. "Mother! Mother! Mother!"

As Sam was about to get up to show Iasis she was just out of view, she felt the symbiote jump on her. "Iasis, don't jump out of the tank."

"He said you dead."

Delek was very confused. He went to reach for the young queen to put her back into the tank, but he was snapped at. He then felt sick, and he held a pained expression.

Jacob tried not to look so amused at Delek. "Iasis sort of adopted Sam."

Delek frowned. "That's impossible. We need to select a comity of caregivers for Iasis."

Sam stood up, a bit too quickly, but Lantash quickly steadied her. "You can't do that to her."

"That is best for her."

"Excuse me," Garshaw interpreted, looking between them. "May I point out that we have not yet decided anything."

Delek looked to her. "Be that as it may, Samantha has no say in her-"

_SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!!_

Sam looked down at the symbiote as she heard Kela'an think, _What was that?_ The symbiote woke up to the noise.

_Iasis. _"What did she say?"

Lantash frowned. "She didn't actually say anything. She just expressed anger."

Sam watched the symbiote wrap around her hand. Iasis stared at Delek with her mouth partly open, clearly taking an aggressive pose.

"I think you pissed her off," Jacob said.

_Don't look so amused_, Selmak thought.

_You don't like him anymore than I do._

Selmak sighed.

Garshaw was the first to approach Iasis again. "Hello Iasis."

Iasis looked to her. "Hello."

"We see you've grown an attachment to Samantha." She watched the symbiote tighten her squeeze on Sam's hand. She reached down and pet the symbiote. She smiled when Iasis pressed slightly against her fingers. She then stepped away. "Samantha, when Kela'an has healed you, we would like to talk with you about happened."

Sam nodded and watched most of the council walk away. She looked to her dad. "Might as well talk to them now."

"You know how long it's going to take? They like knowing details."

Sam nodded as she put Iasis back into the water. "Remember, I've been questioned by Garshaw before." She then headed out into the hall, where she met up with Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c. She looked to Jack. "Sir."

"I heard you were going to be questioned by the council."

"Yes."

Jacob knew where this was going. "Jack, you can request to be there, but that request could be denied."

"She hasn't resigned from the Air Force yet. She's still under my command."

"Right now she's equally a Tok'ra," Jacob replied, and upon seeing that Jack was going to argue, he raised his voice slightly as he continued, "and demanding you be there while they talk to her is like one of us demanding we be there while you talk to her."

Jack frowned.

Jacob continued, "I understand you want to be there, but just start off with a request. If you go in there with a demand, they'll never allow it."

"I don't want her to be in there alone."

Jacob frowned. "Jack, I'm on the council."

"Yeah, but-"

"And Lantash will be there."

"Why does he get to be there?"

"They're married."

It seemed he got that answer a lot lately. He frowned as they went to the council room. He looked at all the council members there, and he watched Jacob go up to stand with them. Jacob spoke before anyone. "General O'Neill, Daniel Jack, and Teal'c have requested to stay and watch."

Per'sus looked to Jack. They had expected this. "Permission has been granted, but we request minimal talking." He noticed Jack didn't look happy with this. He understood it, but they couldn't have him interrupting every few minutes. A few of the councilors didn't want him there at all, but as of now, she was just as much under his command as she was under their command.

Jack was surprised it was allowed, but he was annoyed when he was gestured to go to the corner of the room. He watched as Lantash stood next to Sam.

Lantash touched her back lightly. He was quiet the entire time, listening to Sam talk about the experience and answer many many questions. He sighed softly every time Jack spoke. _They should have told him to keep quiet entirely._

_I don't think that would be possible for him to do_, Martouf thought.

Lantash smirked lightly.

Finally, there was one last question from Garshaw. "Where did the name Iasis come from?" She figured Sam hadn't just made it up. It had to mean something.

"Actually I got the name from one of Daniel's stories."

Daniel smiled, figuring that's where it came from, but he felt put on the spot when every councilor turned to him. He stepped forward. "Uh, well, in Greek mythology, Iass lived at Elis, which is on Earth, with three of her sisters, Pegaea, Calliphaeia, and Synallasis. It was believed they had the power to cure disease."

"Interesting," Garshaw replied, seeming to have approved of the name.

It was soon over with. Sam wanted to sit and relax. She was happy to be dismissed.

"We need to talk to Iasis," Delek said after they left.

"I suggest only a couple of us talk to her so we don't overwhelm her," Ren'al suggested.

"I think she could handle it."

"Then I suggest we talk to her without you."

"Excuse me?" Delek was offended by that idea.

"She doesn't like you."

"She likes me. She's just a little mad at me right now."

"She tried to bite you," Pers'sus pointed out.

"She is a larvae. She didn't know what she was doing."

"She didn't try to bite me," Garshaw said.

Selmak found herself glad she was in control because Jacob was laughing.

--

Meanwhile, Sam had returned to the infirmary. She found Iasis sleeping in her tank. She looked Lantash. "Is there any news on Malek and Aldwin?"

"From what I have heard, Cordesh said the program can only destroy itself, and it will only do so after every Kiron has been killed."

"He could have been lying," Jack said.

"We used zatarc detector when we questioned him."

"Right, because that thing is always accurate," Jack replied with sarcasm.

"It's never gotten a false negative."

"That you know."

Lantash sighed and gave Martouf control before he started yelling at him. "Right now, there is no solution."

to be continued...


	13. Lies

(Thank you for the reviews. I enjoy reading them.)

Part 13, Lies

Sam looked up as some Tok'ra walked into the room. "What are you doing?" she asked when they picked up the tank.

"The council wants to question her."

"Without me?"

_That is generally how it happens when two Tok'ra are questioned_, Kela'an thought.

Sam frowned as Martouf explained the same thing. She sighed softly as she sat down. There wasn't anything about it, and she knew her father would be there at least. "If the zatarc program destroys itself, does that mean it destroys itself or it makes them suicidal."

"I don't know," Martouf answered. "However, given the upgrade, it is likely it would destroy itself without harming its victim. That way, programs can be used for years without us ever figuring it out."

"Have they been told about Cordesh's escape."

"I don't think so."

"Why don't we have someone tell them we are dead?"

Martouf frowned. "What?"

"I mean, Cordesh said the program destroys itself after every Kiron has been killed. The program goes by what they think, right? If they think there aren't anymore Kiron, then shouldn't the program think the same thing?"

Martouf frowned.

_She has a point_, Lantash thought.

_Malek would be devastated._

_It would be worth it if it saves him._

"I'll suggest it to the council," Martouf said as he headed off. He hurried, not wanting to wait until after they were done with Iasis. He'd feel foolish if he found out that Malek and Aldwin were updated on the current news between now and then.

He found most of the council outside of their room. He noticed that Per'sus and Garshaw were missing. After hearing one of Iasis' squeaks coming from the other room, he figured out where they were. He relayed the plan to those who were outside.

"Korra would know if they've been spoken to or not," Jacob said before sending a Tok'ra to find him. "We'll have him deliver the news." He looked behind Martouf when he saw Korra coming. "Korra."

"Yes?"

"Have you given Malek or Aldwin any news about Cordesh's escape?"

"They were told he escaped, but no details were given. We feared that could set them off."

Jacob smiled. "Good. Are you willing to lie to them?"

"Uh...what?"

"We need someone who's willing to lie to them."

--

Malek stood up when Korra came to his cell. "What is this I heard about Cordesh escaping?" It had been driving him insane. No one would tell him anything.

"I have been given permission to tell you what happened."

Malek nodded, and he glanced to Aldwin as he stood.

"I'm afraid, I have bad news." Korra felt bad about this, but he kept on. "It seems he had a weapon that we did not detect. He hid it on the way out. It set off and killed everyone around it."

Malek frowned. "How many?"

"Five Tok'ra." They had decided not to make it just the three. It'd be suspicious if it happened to be those three, and only those three.

Malek looked down, and he felt Aldwin put an arm around him. "Who?"

Korra was quiet.

"Who?"

"Lantash-"

Malek nearly fell over, "Martouf?"

"I'm sorry. None of the hosts nor symbiotes survived."

Malek closed his eyes. "Who else?"

"Telek, Korwe..." They had given permission to be listed as dead. "Selmak, and Kela'an."

Malek felt sick. He watched Korra. "Wait. When-?" He had wanted to know when the funeral would be, but he didn't even know if he could attend. He lowered to his knees and closed his eyes.

--

Sam found it odd to be dealing with a healer who wasn't Kilso. She was so used to Kilso. "Anything?"

"Elevated levels."

"That can mean anything. They've just been told we're dead."

"I am going to have to run scans on them to see if the program is still there. I will do that soon. I want to give time for the program to register the information and hopefully destroy itself. Right now, let me check on your condition."

"What condition?" Jacob asked as he walked in.

Sam hopped off the table. "Dad."

"What condition?" He frowned in worry.

"I'm fine."

"Then why do you have a condition?"

The healer decided it was a good time for her to check on the zatarcs. Sam smiled slightly before approaching. "I left out something I discovered in my report. I wanted to tell you without the rest of the high council staring at me."

"Yes?"

Sam smiled. "You're going to have another grandchild."

Jacob's expression immediately brightened. "A grandchild? Really?" As much as he had hoped and dreamed about it, he never thought Sam and Martouf would have children.

Sam nodded. "Yes...a granddaughter."

"Sammy." As Jacob hugged her, he felt Selmak hugging him.

_Congratulations_, Selmak thought.

Jacob stepped back. "Does Martouf know?"

"He and Lantash figured it out when they scanned me."

Jacob smiled. "That must have surprised them."

_Quite a happy surprise_, Kela'an thought.

"Are you and Kela'an prepared to be mothers."

"I think so."

_We already are_, Kela'an thought.

--

_Could you have found a more boring thing to do?_ Aldwin asked Gete.

Gete frowned. _Now I lost count._ He had been counting the crystals on the wall.

_Good, now go hug Malek._

Gete looked over to Malek, who was sitting against the wall and hugging his legs. _He didn't want a hug._ He slid over, hoping Malek wouldn't ask to be left alone again. "Malek?"

Malek took his time responding. "I am a failure."

"You are not." Gete carefully put his arm around Malek.

"I failed every host. I failed Egeria. I failed Martouf and Samantha. I lost them, and soon I'll loose Amb..." He looked to Gete. "..and you."

"We aren't dead yet."

Aldwin took control before leaning in closer. "Losing people doesn't make it your fault."

Malek took his hand and leaned into him. He soon felt two arms wrap around him. He closed his eyes and remained silent for the next several minutes. Then he heard someone coming to the forcefield. "Make them leave."

"I'm not leaving until I ran another scan on you," replied the female healer.

Malek frowned as he looked to her. "Where is Kilso?"

The healer had anticipated the question, and she did the best she could to not react with sadness. "He wasn't the only one working on this." She set her equipment down and began running scans on Aldwin.

Aldwin watched her. "You are getting the details."

"Yes."

"What happened to the last scan?"

"It's always good to have multiple scans."

"Would it be easier if I was standing?"

"This is fine." The healer began scanning Gete, which took longer.

Gete mentally chuckled, as it tickled his skin. He felt Aldwin quickly work to counteract the feeling. Aldwin then watched as Malek and Amb were scanned. Malek wiggled slightly when being scanned, and since he was in control, he wiggled Amb's whole body. Gete hugged him as the healer left. "Tickled?"

"Yes." Malek looked to him. "I'm glad you are here." He'd feel worse if it was just him and Amb. "if you weren't..." He'd be sitting there worrying about him on top of everything else.

"I know. Gete and I feel the same way."

--

Jacob was called back to the council room. Not everyone was there when he arrived, so he watched Iasis while waiting. She was quickly spinning in circles. Every once in a while the symbiote stopped and would make dizzy swims around the tank. _What is she doing?_

_You never spun when you were a child? _Selmak responded.

_Yes_, Jacob admitted. _Did you?_

_Many times._

Iasis finally stopped a last time before looking to Jacob, either noticing him for first time or now deciding to acknowledge him. She went up to the side of the tank. "How is my sister?"

"Sister?" Delek questioned as he entered the room. "There is another one?"

"No," Garshaw answered as she sat down.

"Then?"

"That's not important right now." Garshaw and Per'sus worryingly thought the same thing when Iasis mentioned having a sister. That changed when Iasis explain her sister was not yet born and still living in their mother.

_Hopefully he doesn't push for the answer_, Yosuuf thought. They didn't know if Jacob knew yet, and they felt it was Sam's place to be the one to give him the news.

Delek, however, wasn't going to let it go. "If she has a sister in any form-"

"Drop it," Garshaw ordered.

"I already know," Jacob replied with a smile. He had only been half paying attention. "Sam told me I was getting a new granddaughter." Right then, he wouldn't have been able to stop grinning if he had to.

Delek frowned, putting the information together. "She is pregnant?" He frowned as he looked from Jacob to Garshaw. "Martouf wasn't to get anyone pregnant."

"I don't think it was intentional," Jacob quickly defeneded.

"It's not hard to prevent. All Lantash needs to do is make sure Martouf's body didn't make-"

"Hey!" Jacob interrupted. "Don't talk about my son-in-laws like that. I don't want to hear it."

"Right now we have bigger issues," Per'sus added. Martouf and Lantash would certainly be talked to about it, but that was minor issue right now. "We need to discuss Iasis future, and she has asked to be part of that discussion."

"She a larvae," Delek reminded. "Right now everything she does is based on emotion."

"Her request has already been granted, so unless you want to make an argument against..." He gestured to Iasis, making it clear that any argument would be in front of her.

"I...understand." Delek replied.

"Good." Per'sus sat down. "Then we shall begin."

to be continued...


	14. Results

(Thank you for the reviews. Sorry, this took longer than I thought.)

Part 14, Results

Sam frowned as she was laying down while staring up at the ceiling. She was in Martouf's bedroom, which really belonged to both of them. He had been grown a couple's room ever since he married, though it was the first time she really thought of it as hers. She was trying to rest, and she didn't know if she was uncomfortable because of her or the bed. Kela'an was having nightmares about Drack's death, and she didn't know how to fix it.

In the distance, she could feel various Tok'ra passing by her room. The short hallway to the bedroom made it impossible to see them. Then she felt one sense growing stronger. She closed her eyes, wondering who it would be. Martouf? Her dad? Teal'c? If it was Teal'c, he'd probably not be alone. She heard a knock that made her sit up. "Yes?" She was surprised to see Anise walk in. "Anise," she said quickly before hopping out of the bed. "Uh...hi."

"Hello Samantha."

"Kela'an is asleep," Sam stated, wondering if she was to wake the symbiote.

Anise took a step closer. "I know... Martouf said he convinced you to lay down after Kela'an fell asleep. That's why I came... I wanted to thank you for saving Kela'an's life."

Sam felt a bit guilty. "Um...I... I had some selfish reasons."

"Martouf mentioned you had been burned." She paused before continuing, I also heard that congratulations were in order."

Sam felt worse. "Yes."

Anise moved closer and placed her hand over Sam's stomach. "I've always wondered what it would be like to have children." She looked to Sam. "None of my hosts ever had any."

"I'm sorry."

She moved her hand. "Is Kela'an sleeping well?" She figured out the answer right away from Sam's reaction. "It will take time. Always remember that Kela'an will grow to love you as much as she loves Drack."

Sam nodded. "Is Freya...? Are you two helping each other?"

Anise saddened. "She still isn't speaking with me, and she refuses to take control. I..." Her eyes watered. "I don't know what to do."

Sam began reaching out to her, wanting to help, but then she stopped.

Anise noticed the gesture, and she moved closer to welcome it. She closed her eyes and hugged Sam, taking comfort in knowing Kela'an was there.

_Anise?_ Kela'an thought sleepily.

_Yeah, she's here._

Kela'an reviewed the conversation before wanting to hug her. She was worried it would bother Anise, but after a moment, she had to. Sam retreated, and Kela'an tried not to move. She didn't want to scare her off.

"You can't hide from me," Anise said, letting Kela'an knew she noticed the shift in control.

Since she didn't seem worse, Kela'an responded by tightening the hug. They held each other for a while before Anise pulled away. Kela'an wiped her tears. "As you told Sam, it will take time. The same goes for Freya."

Anise nodded. It was obvious, but she took comfort in the words anyway.

"Perhaps...spending time with Daniel would help."

Anise tensed. She felt that would be betraying Drack. "It's too soon."

"Would it help you?"

"I don't know... Probably, but...Drack..."

"There is no betrayal in letting a friend comfort you." She took her hand. "We both know that Drack would rather you take comfort from him than suffer by yourself."

Anise nodded. She pulled her in for a hug before walking away.

Meanwhile, Jack was looking for Sam. "Do you think this is it?" He pointed to what looked like quarters.

"It could be," Daniel said.

Jack walked in and went down the small hall. Daniel and Teal'c were following him, and they found a Tok'ra female reading a book. She looked up to them. "Can I help you?"

"Wrong room," Jack said before turning around and heading back.

"Sorry," Daniel said.

"We apologize for the inconvenience," Teal'c said before following them. As he left, he found Jack heading down another hallway. This time he decided to stay back. If Jack could back right away, then it was the wrong room. If not, Teal'c would enter.

"Why couldn't you talk to her earlier?" Daniel asked.

"Kela'an would be there."

"Well, I think she'd still be there."

Jack glanced over to him. "Martouf said she was asleep." Jack stopped short when he walked in on two Tok'ra engaging in private business He left before they asked him why he was there.

"Perhaps we can just ask someone where Sam's quarters are," Daniel suggested.

"I'm going to find her," Jack promised...and he did...twenty-six rooms later. He grinned as he finally saw Sam. "Sam!" he cheerfully greeted.

Kela'an looked to Jack. "She's asleep."

Jack's expression fell. "Well, wake her up." _And go back to sleep._

"No."

"Excuse me, but-"

"Do you realize how little sleep she's had these last few days?" Kela'an interrupted.

Jack frowned. "What if she wants to talk to me?"

"She asked me to wake her if there was news about Malek, Aldwin, or Iasis. She did not mention you."

Daniel looked to Jack, who's anger was clear. "We can talk to her later." He was about to follow Jack in leaving when he heard his name being called. Daniel turned. "Yes?"

"Anise may be looking for you."

Daniel felt nervous. "You don't mind?"

"I was hoping you would comfort her and Freya."

Daniel nodded. "I'll try." He hoped he could.

"Thank you."

Daniel followed Jack out, and they found Teal'c starting down the hall. Teal'c was confused when he saw them leaving. "One of the Tok'ra confirmed this was Colonel Carter's quarters."

"Kela'an won't wake her up," Jack replied in annoyance.

Teal'c was a bit pleased with the news. "She was in need of sleep."

Jack glanced to him before sighing. "Yeah, I know."

"Kela'an should also be sleeping."

"I'm going to go look for Anise," Daniel said. He got a small nod from Jack before heading towards Anise's quarters. At least he knew where those were, and given the area they were in, it didn't take long to find them. He found Anise in bed, hugging a pillow. "Hello?"

"Hello Daniel." Anise didn't move, but she was happy he was here.

"Kela'an said you might be looking for me. I thought I'd check for you here." As he approached, Anise sat up, but kept hugging the pillow. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No." Anise patted the place next to her in bed. She waited for him to sit down before leaning against him. "The bedding was changed after they left, but the pillow still smells like him."

Daniel thought of his own late wife, and he found himself wondering what he could possibly do to make Anise feel better. Really, there was nothing. He slowly moved an arm around her, hoping she would accept his comfort.

"How long will you be staying?" Anise asked.

"I don't know. Sam still has a lot of things to do at home."

"Do you mind someone living in her?"

"Not if she's happy," Daniel replied. He was going to miss her. It was going to be strange without her. Jack wasn't on the team anymore, but at least he was still part of the SGC. The group still saw each other every day. They spent their hours together, on duty and off.

"Kela'an will take care of her...and she has others to help her adjust."

Daniel nodded. Though he imagined each host had a lot of people willing to help them, it was different for Sam. She had people who already loved her who were willing to help her. "Did Freya have so many people? I mean..."

Anise figured what he meant. "Not like that." Anise held the pillow close and sniffed it. "Drack helped her a lot. We were friends with him long before we married him. He-"

_Drack?_ Freya questioned after being so quiet. She sensed that Anise was smelling Drack and there was a man close by.

_I'm sorry._ Anise sat up more, though she was happy to hear Freya say something. _His pillow._ She felt Freya disappearing again. _Please, don't leave me._ Tears fell as she didn't get a reply.

Daniel frowned as he wiped tears. "Anise?" She had suddenly gone quiet on him.

_Who's touching me?_ Freya asked.

_Daniel. _She felt Freya start filling with guilt. _Kela'an said to take comfort from him._ She felt desperate when she didn't get a response. _Please my Dilectus'compar. I feel lost without you. I need you, Freya._

Freya was quiet for a long time. She heard Anise begging her to respond. It seemed easier to get lost in her thoughts again..creating a world where Drack was still alive and Kela'an was where he belonged. _I didn't want him to go on that mission._

_I know._

_And now Sam will bring Kela'an on more dangerous missions, and they'll die together._

_Sam is too known by the Goa'uld to be sent on those kind of missions._

_Not all dangerous missions are spy missions. She'll get bored with Kela'an's job. She'll want missions, and then she'll die, and I can't lose Kela'an after we've just lost Drack. I can't lose both of them, Anise, I can't._

Anise sighed softly, feeling helpless. She tried giving Freya a hug, but it didn't really work when she was the one in control. _Sam won't be going on any missions soon._

_How do you know that?"_

_She's pregnant._

_...Kela'an is going to be a mom?_

_Yes._

Freya felt a twinge of jealousy. _She has both husbands, Kela'an, and now a child._

_Freya..._

_I want Drack back, and I want Kela'an back in his head._

_Me too._

Freya grew quiet and began mentally sobbing.

Anise hugged the pillow tighter and looked to Daniel. "Freya is...upset."

Daniel knew that was an understatement. "Can I help?"

"I don't know." _Do you want to smell the pillow?_

Freya took control. She ignored Daniel as tears fell. She smelled the pillow for a few minutes before looking to Daniel. Freya took his hand and closed her eyes, pretending it was Drack's hand. It was easy to do with a Drack-smelling pillow so close. She was quiet for several more minutes before speaking. "Do you think Kela'an would want to smell the pillow?"

Daniel looked to the pillow. "I don't think it would work with him."

"Why not?"

"Would he know what Drack smells like? People don't usually smell themselves."

"Oh...right..." _Can you smell me?_

_Well, I taste you, but I don't know if you taste the same way you smell. I haven't smelled you since we first met._

That made Freya smile slightly. "Anise can taste me."

Daniel smiled.

--

Malek was drifting off to sleep, and he jumped when someone suddenly entered the room. "Hello?" He saw it was a healer. "Where is Kilso?" He hadn't seen him in a while.

The healer frowned slightly, but that changed back to the previous happy expression. "I believe I have good news for both of you."

Malek and Aldwin stood up. "Yes?"

"It seems the zatarc programs within you have self destructed.." She grinned.

_Eh?_ Amb thought, thinking he must be dreaming now.

Malek frowned, afraid to belive it. "How?" He glanced down to himself. "I'm not dead."

"We suspected that this new program was less destructive in its self destruction so that no one would become suspicious. It has made it more difficult to detect, but it also makes it safer for the zartarcs." The healer moved closer with holographic pictures of their brains. "There is no sign of the program."

Malek remembered her doing a thorough scan. "How...?"

"Can it come back?" Aldwin asked.

"No, it completely destroyed itself. To become zatarcs again, you would have to be reprogrammed." She looked to Malek. "The program gathers its information from you, so by lying to you, we fooled the program into thinking it was no longer needed."

Malek frowned. "Lying. You lied to us?"

"I'm sorry, but Korra had to lie to you to fool the program."

Malek went over what Korra said. "He... They-they are alive then?" He shook his head, unable to believe. "I have to see them."

"No one died?" Aldwin asked.

"I can try to find them." She glanced between them. "I am afraid we did suffer causalities, and..."

Malek frowned, realizing he knew who one was. Why else would Kilso suddenly stopped showing up?

"There is something else too...about Shorvek and Lon."

Aldwin perked up slightly, though he knew the news had to be bad.

--

_Wake up._

Sam stretched and rolled over. She found that Kela'an had laid her down in their bed. _What is it?_

_Martouf is here. He has news about Malek and Aldwin._

Sam sat up and saw Martouf looking at her. "Hi." She stood up. "What is your news?"

"It seems your idea has worked."

Sam smiled. "Really?"

"In believing there was no one left to kill, the program self destructed." Martouf smiled. "Malek has requested to see us."

Sam followed him. "Is there any news about Iasis."

"The high council is still speaking to her."

They walked to the infirmary, where they found Malek and Aldwin. Malek stood up. "Martouf?" He almost felt Amb's heart stop. _He's alive!_

_Yes, now go hug him._

Malek made his way across the room and gripped Martouf in a hug. "You are no longer allowed to pretend to die."

Martouf smiled. "I'll try not to."

Sam approached Aldwin, who was sitting on one of the beds.

"It is good to see you alive," Aldwin said, "though I was regretful to hear what became of Kilso, Hurton, and...Shorvek and Lon." He closed his eyes.

"You were close to them?" Sam asked, getting a vague idea from Kela'an.

"Loved them. Gete and I wanted to marry them, but they refused. It was soon before they disappeared, and now...now we know why...why they refused and why they disappeared." He shook his head, deciding to change the topic. "What is this I hear about a new queen?"

Malek glanced back to Aldwin, still in half a hug with Martouf. "Yes, I was rather curious about that news." He looked to Martouf. "We have a new queen?"

The answer came from the doorway. "We have a new queen."

Sam was worried. "Dad." If he was here, then Iasis caregivers have been decided. "What's going to happen with Iasis?"

Jacob smiled. "It seems I have a very loyal new granddaughter."

Malek was confused. "What?"

Jacob glanced to him. "Oh, I heard congratulations were in order for you and Aldwin."

Malek had a mix of feeling. He was no longer zatarc. Neither were his loved ones. The ones he thought had died were alive, but most importantly... "We have a queen? An actual queen?"

_One track mind_, Amb teased.

Jacob smiled. "Yes, she's Egeria's clone. Still very young, but she is a queen."

"Who's taking care of her?" Sam asked.

"You are." Jacob approached her. "She said she'd only accept you and Martouf as her primary caregivers."

Sam almost felt weak from joy. "Really?" Her entire expression lit up.

"I'm hoping you'll let me help."

"Of course." She hugged her dad.

Jacob smiled as he looked to Malek, who still looked shock. "She called me grandpa." He pulled away slightly. "I never thought I'd get another grandkid, and I got two of them."

_Two beautiful granddaughters_, Selmak thought. _Check on Martouf. He looks like he's about to faint._

Jacob looked over to Martouf. "Martouf?"

Malek lead Martouf to a near chair. "Perhaps you should sit."

Martouf looked up. "Are you sure she wanted me to help?"

"She specified you, though the council didn't know she meant you at first." Jacob chuckled to Martouf's confused look. "She kept calling you father."

Aldwin hugged Malek as he looked to Jacob. "Two grandkids?"

"The other isn't born yet." Jacob gestured to Sam, who was on her way to Martouf.

"Congratulations."

Sam smiled as she sat in Martouf's lap. She looked to him as she leaned against his arm. "Martouf." She watched him switch control. "Lantash."

"Martouf is nervous."

Sam hugged him. "He'll be a great father. You both will be."

to be continued...


	15. Conclusion

(Thanks to Barranca, SG4ever, librarymouse, and especially Roeskva for your reviews. I also thank everyone else who has reviewed. Sorry that this story had taken so long to finish.)

Part 15, Conclusion

Sam looked over everything in her living room. "I don't know how my dad did it."

"Hm?" Daniel said, looking up from a bookshelf.

"I know most of what was important to me was kept in my office, but looking at some of these things... I liked going home every once in a while and just looking at them. I won't be able to do that whenever I want anymore."

"What does Kela'an think?"

"She's asleep." Sam set down a photo album. "We know Jack has been wanting to talk to me alone, so she thought she'd sleep while I packed. Speaking of which, when is he getting here?"

"He and Teal'c will be here in a few minutes." Daniel smiled.

Sam looked through the pictures, deciding to leave them at the house. Most Tok'ra had to keep everything they owned with them, ready to be moved at a moment's notice. At a result, each person only kept a few personal belongings with them. Sam had the luxary of a second home to keep what she didn't take to the tunnels.

Daniel glanced out the window and saw Jack's car pull up. "They're here."

Sam went to the door. When she opened it, she found Jack and Teal'c with pizza, beer, water, and a pink pastry box. She smiled. "Come in. You didn't have to buy drinks. I have that."

They came in and set the food on the table. "Don't worry," Jack replied. "We're going to raid your fridge while you are gone."

"Thanks." She opened the pink box and found a cake inside. The icing wrote out, "Happy Tok'raing."

"I wanted to put an unhappy face," Jack said as he sat down. "Teal'c thought that would be rude to Kela'an."

"Kela'an is asleep," Daniel informed, knowing Jack would be happy to hear that.

"See Teal'c?" Jack said as he nudged the Jaffa. "I could have put a sad face."

"Kela'an would have learned of it after waking up," Teal'c said, clearly still not approving of the idea.

Sam smiled. "It's all right, Teal'c. Kela'an knows Jack doesn't approve of her."

"Not only is she Tok'ra, but she...he...was married to Freya. Freya!" Jack shook his head.

"Hey!" Daniel alarmed. "You're forgetting something."

"Oh, right. You and Freya are friends now... That's not strange at all." The last added with a bit of sarcasm.

"Why don't we discuss something else," Daniel said, not liking where this conversation was going. "I'm moving."

"You're moving too?"

Daniel gestured around to indicate where he was moving to. "Free rent," he explained, making Sam chuckle. In truth, he was moving to the house to make sure it and Sam's belongings were taken care of. "I'll turn the guest bedroom into my bedroom. That way you always have your room to go back to."

"Thank you," Sam replied.

"What if you have guests?" Jack asked.

"When do I ever have overnight guests?" Daniel pointed out.

Jack smiled. "Well, I guess we won't be raiding the fridge," Jack said as he began passing beer around. He sat down and looked to Sam, who had grabbed water. "So, seriously, how are you doing?"

"I'm... It's a lot of things. A little scared. Happy. Excited. Worried...and... The idea of taking care of Iasis is a whole set of emotions itself. I'm more scared of raising her than I am to raise this one." She placed her hand over her stomach. "I know how to raise a human kid. I mean, obviously, I've never done it before, but I know the basics, and I know I'll figure it out. Iasis... If I screw that up..."

"You will be a great mother," Teal'c said. "You will raise a powerful and good queen, after which, you will be the grandmother of all future Tok'ra symbiotes."

Sam's eyes widened slightly, and Daniel grinned. "Teal'c, I think you made her more nervous."

"It's all right." Sam smiled. "I just...wow, that's a lot of grandkids. I think I just need to think about my kids first." Her hand went back to her stomach again. "I need to make sure this one isn't overshadowed." She didn't want any of her children jealous of the other. "You know, a couple months ago, I never thought I'd have kids."

"So..." Jack wondered how to ask this. "How exactly does a guy with a symbiote accidentally get someone pregnant? Wouldn't have Lantash have control over...everything?"

"I told him I was taking birth control."

"Which didn't work."

"Lantash said the naquadah in my system might have made it less useful."

Jack frowned. "Shouldn't he have told you that before?"

"He did."

Daniel smiled. "I think she's saying they were not careful on purpose."

"Oh."

Sam took a slice of pizza. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else, oh, and Daniel, you better take good care of my motorcycle."

Daniel smiled. "I will."

The night continued with conversations of unimportant things that suddenly seemed important to Sam. It ended with a Star Wars marathon because they all enjoyed the movies and they realized that the four of them never sat down and watched it together. No one really got any sleep.

--

The next day, Sam took a last tour of the SGC. She mostly lingered in her own office, which was no longer to be hers. Finally, she found herself looking at the activated stargate. Martouf and and Jacob were patiently waiting at the top of the ramp.

"Nervous?" Daniel asked.

Sam nodded.

"We can still walk you there."

Sam smiled. "I'll be fine. They are waiting for me." She turned to hug him.

"Can you tell Freya and Anise I said hello?"

"I will." She then went to Teal'c. "I'm going to visit."

"We await your return."

She hugged him. Then she walked to Jack while fighting off tears.

"I expect you to visit."

Sam smiled. "I will."

"Don't get all Tok'ra-y and only visit when there is a problem."

Sam laughed as she hugged him. "I won't." She took a step back as she pulled away. "Goodbye." She saluted to him and to many others who were in the room. Everyone in a uniform saluted back. Daniel waved, and Teal'c bowed his head. Sam smiled before walking up the ramp. Jacob and Martouf touched her back lightly as the three of them walked through. Sam looked to the stargate after they walked through. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"We'll help you," Jacob replied.

_I'll help you too_, Kela'an thought.

"I'll show you our new room," Martouf said.

"We have a new room?"

"We're special now," he jokingly replied. He lead her to the tunnels, and she discovered that their room had been added to. There was now a small shallow pool in the room, and Sam found Iasis swimming in it.

"All for me," Iasis bragged as she swam to show Sam that the pool and a hallway lead to a new room, which had a deeper pool in it.

"It's still only waste deep," Martouf said, "but it's more than enough for Iasis to swim in."

"We need to add decoration for her...and toys."

Lantash took over. "And fish."

"Fish?"

"Fish are fun to chase. They are also good to eat."

"Fish then."

He sat down in a built in chair on the wall. "We'll figure out what else she needs."

Sam went to the pool and picked Iasis up. Then she went to Lantash and sat in his lap. "She can help us with that."

"I can," Iasis squealed. With Lantash and Sam holding hands, Iasis wrapped around both of them.

"Is Kela'an awake?" Lantash asked.

Sam nodded.

Lantash moved his hand down, so part of it and part of Iasis was resting over Sam's stomach. "I never had a family like this before." He had many sorts of families in the past, but this was certainly a new type. He smiled. "Martouf, you, Iasis, the unnamed one, and even Kela'an...I'm holding all of you."

Sam smiled. "You strong enough to keep holding us?"

Lantash adjusted his arms before standing up with her. "For as long as you need me."

Sam glanced to Iasis, who was nuzzling her hand. "We'll be strong enough to hold you too."

Lantash smiled before kissing her.

The End


End file.
